Article 107 With Article 90 in the Army: What the Records Show

Trends › By Offense › Article 107 › Army, with Article 90

Based on 18 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Every Case Ended in a Conviction

18 of the 18 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. 14 of those sentences included confinement (78%). The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 5 months across Army-wide Article 107 cases.

A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.8 years or longer. All figures are adjudged sentences. They are the sentences announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.

An Even Split Between Contested Cases and Guilty Pleas

9 accused entered a not-guilty or mixed plea, and 9 pleaded guilty. Contested cases were 50% of those with a plea recorded. Across Army-wide Article 107 cases, the contested share was 37%.

Officers Made Up a Larger Share

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 50% of the accused, NCOs were 28%, and officers were 22%. Across Army Article 107 cases overall, junior enlisted members were 42%.

Among the convicted, 4 were officers or warrant officers, and 2 of them were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge.

Discharges for Enlisted Members

14 enlisted members were convicted. 9 of them (64%) received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, and 4 of those 9 were dishonorable. Army Article 107 cases overall had a rate of 60%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not prevent a later administrative separation.

Companion Charges

No case charged Article 107 alone. Apart from Article 90, the most frequent charges were Article 134, the general article, and Article 128, assault, in 7 cases each. Article 112a, drug offenses, was charged in 6 cases, and Article 120, sexual assault, in 5.

Court Level and Who Decided Guilt

13 cases were general courts-martial and 5 were special courts-martial. The general share was 72%, compared with 63% in Army Article 107 cases overall. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge, so the 4 dishonorable discharges came from general courts-martial.

A military judge alone decided guilt in 14 of the 18 cases (78%). Members heard 4: 3 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt, so cases heard by members and cases heard by a judge alone are not alike.

Trials by Year

The cases were tried between January 2021 and December 2025. 9 were tried in 2021, 2 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 2 in 2025. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021, so earlier years are not compared.

Gaps in the Records

The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show offense dates, the evidence, plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial. Because the December 2023 changes to prosecution decisions and sentencing depend on the offense date, the records cannot sort trials from 2024 on into old-rule and new-rule cases.

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.