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# Do Seasoned Air Force Prosecutors Win More Contested Cases? Prior Cases and Verdicts, 2020–2026
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-trial-counsel-20-prior-cases-contested-verdicts/
- Published: 2026-10-30T05:29:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T05:29:24.000Z
- Description: Full acquittals were less common in Air Force contested cases where a trial counsel of record had 20 or more prior cases: 44% of 196 cases, compared with 52% of the other 496. The records cannot show why. Case strength, plea offers, and who did the work are not recorded.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Air Force

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Counsel Experience](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/counsel-experience/) › Air Force, 20+ prior cases

**Short answer:** Full acquittals were less common in Air Force contested cases where a trial counsel of record had 20 or more prior cases: 44% of 196 cases, compared with 52% of the other 496\. The records cannot show why. Case strength, plea offers, and who did the work are not recorded.

Based on 697 cases · 2020–2026 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

## 44% Compared With 52%

692 contested Air Force cases reached a verdict and list a trial counsel of record. In 196 of them, at least one trial counsel had 20 or more prior cases in this data, and 44% of those ended in a full acquittal. In the other 496 cases, the full-acquittal rate was 52%.

A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea, and a full acquittal means not guilty of every charge. The gap describes 2 groups of cases. It does not show that a more experienced prosecutor changed any verdict, because the groups may differ in ways the records do not capture.

| Group                  | Contested cases | Full acquittal |
| ---------------------- | --------------- | -------------- |
| 20 or more prior cases | 196             | 44%            |
| Fewer than 20          | 496             | 52%            |

## What Experience Means on This Page

Experience is the number of earlier Air Force courts-martial in this data where a lawyer was counsel of record, for either side, before the trial date. A count of prior cases is not a measure of skill. Lawyers may have tried cases before the records begin.

Most government teams list more than one lawyer, and the records do not name a lead. Each case is counted by its most experienced trial counsel of record. Nothing here rates or ranks a lawyer.

## Rates Across Every Band

Splitting the cases more finely shows the 5 to 9 band with the highest full-acquittal rate, 60% of 108 cases. The 1 to 4 band had 51% of 201 cases, and cases with no experienced trial counsel had 50% of 46\. The 10 to 19 band had 48% of 141 cases. The 20 or more band had the lowest rate, 44% of 196.

Partial acquittals followed a different order. A partial acquittal is not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. The 20 or more band had the highest partial-acquittal rate, 19%, and the band with no experienced trial counsel had the lowest, 9%.

The table describes outcomes only. Evidence, plea offers, and the division of work on a team are not in the records.

| Prior cases (most experienced trial counsel) | Contested cases | Full acquittal | Partial acquittal |
| -------------------------------------------- | --------------- | -------------- | ----------------- |
| No prior cases                               | 46              | 50%            | 9%                |
| 1 to 4                                       | 201             | 51%            | 10%               |
| 5 to 9                                       | 108             | 60%            | 12%               |
| 10 to 19                                     | 141             | 48%            | 17%               |
| 20 or more                                   | 196             | 44%            | 19%               |

## Prior Cases of the Top Trial Counsel

694 of the 697 contested cases list at least one trial counsel of record. The median prior-case count of the most experienced trial counsel on those teams was 9.

202 cases (29%) were in the 1 to 4 band and 197 (28%) in the 20 or more band. 141 (20%) were in the 10 to 19 band and 108 (16%) in the 5 to 9 band. In 46 cases (7%), no trial counsel of record on the team had an earlier case in this data.

| Prior cases (most experienced trial counsel) | Cases | Share |
| -------------------------------------------- | ----- | ----- |
| No prior cases                               | 46    | 7%    |
| 1 to 4                                       | 202   | 29%   |
| 5 to 9                                       | 108   | 16%   |
| 10 to 19                                     | 141   | 20%   |
| 20 or more                                   | 197   | 28%   |

## Government Teams Were Often Large

Of the 694 cases with a trial counsel listed, 308 named 2 trial counsel of record and 237 named 3 or more. 149 named 1.

691 cases list lawyers on both sides. The most experienced defense counsel had more prior cases than the most experienced trial counsel in 388 of them (56%). The trial counsel had more in 288 (42%). The rest were tied.

## Years and Coverage

The cases were tried from January 2020 through October 2026\. The yearly counts were 2020: 109, 2021: 137, 2022: 124, 2023: 120, 2024: 88, 2025: 71, and 2026: 48\. The 2026 count is a partial year.

Air Force counsel names are nearly complete from 2016, and the counsel pages start two years later so most lawyers have earlier cases recorded. Name variants are merged as on Learn Your Lawyer. Navy and Marine Corps records list counsel only from mid-2025, mostly by surname, so they are not included.

## Rule Changes in the Period

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder.

When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Each change depends on the offense date, which these records do not give.

## Limits

Only cases that reached a courtroom appear here. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action are not in the records, and the evidence and plea terms are not described. Air Force records rarely list the charges in a full acquittal and never report plea agreements, and from 2016 to 2019 they rarely list a guilty plea.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Air Force courts-martial with trial dates in 2018–2026 and a not-guilty or mixed plea (697 cases).

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Counsel Experience](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/counsel-experience/) (hub)
- [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [When Air Force Defense Counsel Had 20 or More Prior Cases, Were Contested Cases Acquitted More Often? 2020–2026](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-defense-counsel-20-prior-cases-contested-verdicts/)
- [Do Seasoned Army Prosecutors Win More Contested Cases? Prior Cases and Verdicts, 2023–2026](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-trial-counsel-20-prior-cases-contested-verdicts/)
- [When Army Defense Counsel Had 20 or More Prior Cases, Were Contested Cases Acquitted More Often? 2023–2026](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-defense-counsel-20-prior-cases-contested-verdicts/)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

**About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.