Not Guilty Pleas in Army Article 107 Cases: What Happened at Trial

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Based on 62 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Few Full Acquittals, Many Partial Acquittals

Every case in this group was contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge, and all 62 reached a verdict. Of those, 9 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of all charges. That is a full-acquittal rate of 15%. Across all contested Army cases from 2021 to 2025, the rate was 38%.

Partial acquittals were more common: 40 cases (65%) ended with the accused found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals appear in Army data.

Article 107 Was Usually Charged With Other Articles

Only 2 of the 62 cases charged Article 107 by itself. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared alongside it in 24 cases, Article 128 (assault) in 18, Article 92 (orders violation) in 14, Article 134 (general article) in 13, and Article 121 (larceny) in 10.

A partial acquittal can mean not guilty of the false statement charge and guilty of another charge, or the reverse. The sentence covers the charges that ended in a conviction.

Sentences After Conviction

There were 53 convictions on at least one charge, and 33 included confinement. The median confinement was 1.2 years, shorter than the 1.5 years for all contested Army cases in those years. A quarter of terms were 2.7 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge on which the accused was convicted.

Confinement by Length

No confinement was part of 20 convictions (38%), higher than the 25% in all contested Army cases. Terms under 6 months were part of 11 (21%), compared with 22%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year were part of 4 (8%), compared with 9%.

Terms of more than one year were less common than in the comparison group: 18 of 53 convictions (34%), compared with 44%. Of those, 11 (21%) were more than 1 year and under 5 years. Another 7 (13%) were 5 years or more, close to the 15% comparison share.

Discharges and Dismissals

Of 46 convicted enlisted members, 24 received a punitive discharge: 15 dishonorable discharges and 9 bad-conduct discharges. That share of 52% is lower than the 64% across contested Army cases.

There were 7 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 4 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge or dismissal does not rule out a later administrative separation.

A Senior Group, Mostly at General Courts-Martial

By rank, the accused were 32 NCOs, 22 junior enlisted members, and 8 officers. That mix is more senior than all contested Army cases in those years.

General courts-martial heard 41 of the 59 cases with a court level listed (69%) and special courts-martial 18; the court level is not listed for 3. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year. The median confinement was 1.3 years at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial.

Panels and Judge-Alone Trials

Where the forum is listed, members decided 55% of cases: 28 enlisted panels and 5 officer panels. A military judge alone decided the other 27. The accused usually chooses the forum, so the cases each forum hears are not alike. The data does not show the reason for any individual choice.

Year by Year and Base by Base

There were 16 cases in 2021, 20 in 2022, 7 in 2023, 8 in 2024, and 11 in 2025. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

Fort Bragg tried 9 of these cases, Fort Sill 7, Fort Bliss and Fort Hood 5 each, and Fort Drum 3. Together they accounted for 47% of the 62. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a particular problem.

Rule Changes and Missing Pieces

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel instead of commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding involves an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both depend on the offense date, so trials from 2024 on include cases under the old rules and the new rules.

The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Allegations handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation do not appear.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 107 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.