Army Article 80 Trials Before Members (A Panel): Verdicts and Sentences

Trends › By Offense › Article 80 › Decided by members

Based on 31 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

The Same Acquittal Rate as the Comparison Group

Each of the 31 cases was contested: 31 not-guilty or mixed pleas and no guilty pleas. 8 of the 31 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (26%). The rate in all contested Army Article 80 cases was also 26%.

Partial acquittals were more common. 17 cases (55%) ended with the accused found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals appear often in Army records.

Attempt Charges Were Tried With Other Offenses

27 of the 31 cases charged at least one other article. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 17 cases and Article 128 (assault) in 15. Article 134 (the general article) appeared in 7, and Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 92 (orders violation) in 4 each.

Article 80 covers attempts to commit another offense. Each sentence covers every charge in the case, so a sexual assault or assault charge in the same case is part of the sentence figures below.

Confinement and the Median

23 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 18 of those sentences carried confinement. The median confinement was 2.3 years, about the same as the 2.3-year median in all contested Army Article 80 cases. A quarter of those sentences were 4 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

How the Sentences Were Spread

14 of 23 convictions (61%) included more than one year of confinement, about the same as the 63% in all contested Army Article 80 cases. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 17% in both groups. Sentences of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 43%, compared with 46%.

5 convictions carried no confinement (22%), compared with 17%. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement, and a special court-martial is capped at one year.

Punitive Discharges

15 of 18 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 10 dishonorable discharges and 5 bad-conduct discharges. In all contested Army Article 80 cases, the share was 84%.

5 convicted officers or warrant officers appear here, and 3 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Enlisted Panels, Officer Panels, and the Choice of Forum

An enlisted panel decided 23 of the cases, and an officer panel decided 8. Members heard 53% of all contested Army Article 80 cases.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Panel cases and judge-alone cases are therefore not alike, and the figures here describe what happened rather than what the forum caused.

Rank of the Accused

By rank, the accused were 17 NCOs, 9 junior enlisted members, and 5 officers. The group is more senior than all contested Army Article 80 cases.

NCOs were the largest group of the accused in these panel cases. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal, while a special court-martial caps confinement at one year.

Trial Years and Installations

The cases were tried between April 2021 and June 2025. There were 9 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 8 in 2023, 7 in 2024, and 4 in 2025.

Wheeler Army Airfield had the most cases, with 6. Fort Hood had 4, Joint Base Lewis-McChord 3, and Fort Carson and Fort Bliss 2 each. Those five installations account for 55% of the 31 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so these counts do not measure the offense at any base.

Rule Changes and the Limits of the Records

Special trial counsel, not commanders, have decided since December 28, 2023 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. The records list trial dates but not offense dates, so cases from 2024 on cannot be sorted by rule.

Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not in these records. The records also do not describe the evidence. With 31 cases, a few results can move the percentages a great deal.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 80 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.