When Article 107 and Article 90 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?

Trends › By Offense › Article 107 › With Article 90

Based on 30 cases · 2014–2025 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Every Contested Verdict Was a Partial Acquittal

All 10 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a partial acquittal (100%). In each one, the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. None ended in a full acquittal. For Article 107 cases overall, the full-acquittal rate was 15%.

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 24 records listing a plea, 14 were guilty pleas and 10 were contested. The contested share was 42%, compared with 34% across Article 107 cases. With only 10 contested cases that reached a verdict, these figures come from a very small group.

Officers Were 17% of the Accused

Officers made up 17% of the accused in this pairing. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 55% and NCOs 28%. Across Article 107 cases, junior enlisted members made up 49%.

Of 5 convicted officers or warrant officers, 2 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of an enlisted punitive discharge.

Length of Confinement

Of the 29 convictions, 79% included confinement. The median confinement was 7 months, slightly longer than the 6-month median across Article 107 cases. A quarter of terms were 1 year or more. These are adjudged sentences: the terms announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers all charges in the case.

Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 31% of convictions, compared with 22% in the broader Article 107 group. Terms under 6 months made up 31%, compared with 38%. Terms over one year were given in 5 of 29 convictions (17%), about the same as the 18% for Article 107 cases. Convictions with no confinement made up 21%. Terms of 5 years or more made up 7% of convictions, compared with 5%. Terms between 1 and 5 years made up 10%, compared with 12%.

Punitive Discharges

Of enlisted convictions, 67% included a punitive discharge: 10 bad-conduct discharges and 6 dishonorable discharges. Across Article 107 cases, the rate was 60%.

A member whose sentence had no punitive discharge could still face an administrative separation. These records do not cover administrative separation.

General and Special Courts-Martial

General courts-martial made up 57% of these cases (17 of 30). A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. The general courts-martial had a median confinement of 9 months.

The 13 special courts-martial had a median confinement of 2 months. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone. In that form, confinement is capped at six months and no punitive discharge can be imposed.

Other Charges in These Cases

Besides the paired articles, Article 134 (general article) was charged in 12 of the 30 cases. Article 128 (assault) and Article 92 (orders violation) were each charged in 10, and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 6. A case counts under every article it charged. A sentence covers all of the charges in its case.

Years and Installations

The cases run from April 2014 to December 2025. There were 10 cases in 2021 and none in 2015 or 2016. There were 3 cases in each of 2017, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Fort Bragg tried 4 of these cases. Fort Bliss and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 3 each, and Fort Knox and Norfolk, Virginia tried 2 each. Together these installations account for 47% of the total. Counts this small say little about any one installation.

Law Changes and What the Records Do Not Show

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It set fixed panel sizes and brought in written plea agreements. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records do not give offense dates. They cannot show which rules applied to a case or whether any change affected these results.

Evidence, plea terms, and nonjudicial punishment are also not in the records.

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.