Fewer or More? Resisting Apprehension Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025
Between 2021 and 2025, the Army tried 31 courts-martial that charged Article 87a (resisting apprehension). All but 1 also charged another offense, most often assault.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 87a › Army
Short answer: Between 2021 and 2025, the Army tried 31 courts-martial that charged Article 87a (resisting apprehension). All but 1 also charged another offense, most often assault. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as Army-wide, and 19 of 30 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 73% Army-wide.
Resisting Apprehension Was Charged With Other Offenses
Of the 31 cases, 30 listed at least one other article. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 19 cases. Article 90 (disobeying an officer) appeared in 11, Article 92 (orders violation) in 10, Article 134 (the general article) in 9, and Article 115 (communicating threats) in 7.
Each sentence below covers all of the charges in a case. The records cannot show how much of a sentence was for resisting apprehension and how much was for the other charges tried with it.
Sentences About the Same as the Army Median
Of 30 cases that ended in a conviction on at least one charge, 27 included confinement (90%). The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the Army-wide median.
Terms under 6 months made up 53% of convictions, compared with 39% across the Army. No confinement was adjudged in 3 convictions. Sentences longer than one year were adjudged in 5 of 30 convictions (17%), compared with 28% Army-wide. Of those, 2 were 5 years or more, and 1 was a life sentence.
These are adjudged sentences, imposed at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Army |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 10% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 16 | 53% | 39% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 6 | 20% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 10% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 7% | 8% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
General courts-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Special courts-martial cap confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. Of these cases, 19 were general courts-martial and 11 were special courts-martial. The general share was 63% of the 30 cases with a court level listed. The level is not listed for 1.
The general court-martial cases had a median confinement of 9 months, and 26% were contested. The special court-martial cases had a median confinement of 4 months, and 18% were contested.
Discharges Lower Than the Army Rate
Of 30 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a punitive discharge: 15 bad-conduct and 4 dishonorable. Across the Army, 73% of convicted enlisted members received one. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Pleas and Forum
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Here, 7 cases were contested and 24 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 23%, compared with 30% Army-wide. Army records show whether a guilty plea came with a plea agreement but not its terms. Of the 24 guilty pleas, 23 had one.
The accused usually chooses between a military judge alone and a panel of members. Members heard 16% of the cases with the forum listed, all 5 with enlisted panels. A judge alone decided the other 26 cases. Most guilty pleas are decided by a judge alone.
Cases by Year
The cases were tried between March 2021 and November 2025. There were 12 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 5 in 2023, 8 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. That is 1% of the 2,422 Army courts-martial in those years.
Convictions that included Article 87a were 8 in 2021 and 8 in 2024, the highest yearly counts. In both of those years, the share of Army convictions with offenses listed was 2%. The count was 2 in 2023, which rounds to 0% of Army convictions. Article 87a was part of 11 of 891 convictions (1%) in 2021–2022 and 11 of 816 (1%) in 2024–2025, about the same share. Shares make years with different total caseloads comparable.
| Year | Convictions incl. Art. 87a | All convictions with offenses listed | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | 467 | 2% |
| 2022 | 3 | 424 | 1% |
| 2023 | 2 | 408 | 0% |
| 2024 | 8 | 428 | 2% |
| 2025 | 3 | 388 | 1% |
Rank and Installations
The accused were 22 junior enlisted members and 9 NCOs. There were no officers. This group was more junior than the Army as a whole.
Fort Bragg tried 5 of these cases, Vilseck (Europe) 4, Fort Benning and Fort Bliss 3 each, and Fort Irwin 2. Those five installations had 55% of the 31 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with this offense.
What the Records Do Not Show
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, judges sentence within new parameters. The records give trial dates only, so trials from 2024 on also include cases under the older rules. Army records here are sparse before 2021.
Incidents handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025 that charged Article 87a (31 cases). The trend line uses convictions whose records list the offenses found, by trial year.
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 87a (Resisting Apprehension, Numbered Since 2019): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
- How Has Article 87a Changed in Air Force Courts-Martial Since 2016? (another service)
- Fewer or More? Resisting Apprehension Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025 (another service)
- Army Article 107 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Army Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- What Sentence Follows an Army Resisting Apprehension Conviction?
- 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.