> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How Often Are Contested Army Article 90 Cases Acquitted? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-90-acq-2021-2025/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:06:23.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:04:54.000Z - Description: In 38 contested Army courts-martial from 2021–2025 that included Article 90 (disobeying an officer), 13% ended in a full acquittal. Across all contested Army cases, the full-acquittal rate was 38%. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 90, Army [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 90](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-90-courts-martial/) › How Often Are Contested Army Article 90 **Short answer:** In 38 contested Army courts-martial from 2021–2025 that included Article 90 (disobeying an officer), 13% ended in a full acquittal. Across all contested Army cases, the full-acquittal rate was 38%. A punitive discharge was adjudged for 67% of convicted enlisted members, about the same as the 64% Army-wide. Based on 38 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Few Full Acquittals Between January 2021 and December 2025, the Army records hold 38 courts-martial in which the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge, and the charges included Article 90, willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer. No accused in this group pleaded guilty to all charges. Full acquittals were 13% of those 38 cases, lower than the 38% for all contested Army cases. Partial acquittals were common: 29 cases ended not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common in Army data. ## Full Acquittals by Forum Panels of members returned a full acquittal in 2 of 23 contested cases (9%). Military judges sitting alone returned a full acquittal in 2 of 14 (14%). These 37 cases are the decided contested cases with the forum listed. Members heard 62% of them: 20 enlisted panels and 3 officer panels. A judge alone decided the other 14\. The accused usually chooses the forum. The counts are small, so the forum figures are not a reliable comparison on their own. ## Never the Only Charge Article 90 was the only charge in 0 of the 38 cases. Assault under Article 128 was the most common other charge, in 22 cases. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 17, Article 134 (general article) in 14, Article 107 (false official statement) in 9, and Article 115 (communicating threats) in 8. The sentence covers every charge, so the punishments below include all the convictions in each case. The records cannot show how much of a sentence was for the disobedience charge. ## Longer Sentences Than Other Contested Cases Confinement was part of 85% of the 33 convictions. Half of those terms were 1.6 years or less. The median across contested Army cases was 1.5 years. Sentences longer than one year were adjudged in 18 of 33 convictions (55%), compared with 44% Army-wide. Terms of 5 years or more made up 21%, compared with 15%. Terms between 1 and 5 years made up 33%, compared with 28%. Only 15% of convictions had no confinement, compared with 25%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all contested Army cases in those years | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 5 | 15% | 25% | | Under 6 months | 6 | 18% | 22% | | 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 12% | 9% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 11 | 33% | 28% | | 5 years or more | 7 | 21% | 15% | ## More Dishonorable Than Bad-Conduct Discharges A punitive discharge was adjudged in 67% of enlisted convictions, about the same as the 64% across contested Army cases. Of those discharges, 13 were dishonorable and 5 were bad-conduct. The group also includes 6 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 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. ## Rank and Court Level The accused were 15 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 16 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 7 officers or warrant officers. Junior enlisted members were 44% of all contested Army cases, so this group was more senior. General courts-martial heard 31 cases and special courts-martial 7\. The general share was 82%, about the same as the 85% across contested Army cases. A general court-martial can adjudge any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. ## Years and Installations There were 12 cases in 2021, 7 in 2022, 12 in 2023, 5 in 2024, and 2 in 2025\. Fort Bragg tried 6 of these cases, Wheeler Army Airfield 5, Joint Base Lewis-McChord 4, Fort Irwin 3, and Fort Hood 2\. Those five installations had 53% of the 38 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with disobedience. The counts in 2024 and 2025 were the lowest in the period. With so few cases each year, the records cannot show a lasting trend or a reason for the change. They also give trial dates, not offense dates. ## Rule Changes and What the Records Do Not Show Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new parameters. The records list trial dates but not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and new rules. Trial records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the order the accused allegedly disobeyed, the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial, such as nonjudicial punishment. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 90 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-90/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025: where the accused contested a charge under Article 90 (disobeying an officer) (38 cases), compared with all contested Army cases in those years. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Article 90 (Willfully Disobeying Superior Officer): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-90-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) (hub) - [Is Army Disobeying An Officer Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 90, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-90-trend-2021-2025/) - [Article 90 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-90-sent-2021-2025/) - [Pleading Guilty to Article 90 in the Army: What Sentences Followed?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-90-plea-2021-2025/) - [Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Disobeying An Officer Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-90-acq-2017-2025/) (another service) - [Fighting an Army Child Endangerment Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-119b-acq-2021-2025/) - [Fighting an Army Communicating Threats Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-acq-2021-2025/) - [Article 90 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-90/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.