How Often Are Contested Army Article 114 Cases Acquitted?
The Army records hold 12 contested courts-martial from 2021–2025 with an Article 114 (endangerment) charge. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 1.5 years across all contested Army cases in those years.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 114 › How Often Are Contested Army Article 114
Short answer: The Army records hold 12 contested courts-martial from 2021–2025 with an Article 114 (endangerment) charge. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 1.5 years across all contested Army cases in those years. Full acquittals came in 2 of 12 cases (17%), lower than the 38% across all contested Army cases.
Every Conviction Included Confinement
Of the 12 cases, 10 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and all 10 sentences included confinement (100%). The median term was 6 months. A quarter of the terms were 1 year or longer.
Across all contested Army cases in those years, the median confinement was 1.5 years. These figures are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.
How the Contested Cases Ended
All 12 cases were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The full-acquittal rate was 17%, lower than the 38% across all contested Army cases. Another 9 cases were partial acquittals, with the accused found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
Because Army findings are recorded for each charge separately, a partial acquittal shows up whenever any single charge ends in a not-guilty finding.
A Mix of Ranks, Including Officers
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 33% of the accused, NCOs 42%, and officers 25%. Across all contested Army cases in those years, junior enlisted members were 44% of the accused.
General courts-martial heard 83% of these cases (10 of 12), and special courts-martial heard the rest. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal.
Fewer Cases Went to Members
A military judge alone decided 6 cases. Enlisted panels heard 4 and an officer panel heard 1. Members heard 45% of the cases with a forum listed (5 of 11), lower than the 60% across all contested Army cases in those years.
Other Charges
All 12 cases charged at least one other article. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 7. Article 128 (assault) and Article 115 (communicating threats) appeared in 5 each, and Article 107 (false official statement) and Article 134 (general article) in 4 each.
Years Covered
The trials ran from May 2021 to April 2025: 1 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 1 in 2023, 4 in 2024, and 3 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.
In December 2023, the rules changed in 2 ways. Prosecution decisions for covered offenses, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder, moved from commanders to special trial counsel on December 28, 2023. A military judge now sets the sentence within sentencing parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records list trial dates only, so the 2024 and 2025 trials cannot be sorted by which rules applied.
Limits
Trial records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025: where the accused contested a charge under Article 114 (endangerment) (12 cases), compared with all contested Army cases in those years.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 114 (Dueling Before 2019, Endangerment Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
- Is Army Endangerment Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 114, 2021–2025
- What Sentence Follows an Army Endangerment Conviction?
- Pleading Guilty to Article 114 in the Army: What Sentences Followed?
- Fighting an Army Child Endangerment Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- Fighting an Army Communicating Threats Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- Fighting an Army Domestic Violence Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- Fighting an Army General Article Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- Search every case in 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.