Aggravated Assault Charges: Federal Trial Acquittals vs. Contested Navy Courts-Martial
The Navy records list 13 contested courts-martial for aggravated assault that reached a verdict from 2016 to 2025. None ended in a full acquittal, and 6 (46%) ended in a partial acquittal. In federal court, 84 of 229 assault trials in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 ended in an acquittal (37%).
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In brief: The Navy records list 13 contested courts-martial for aggravated assault that reached a verdict from 2016 to 2025. None ended in a full acquittal, and 6 (46%) ended in a partial acquittal. In federal court, 84 of 229 assault trials in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 ended in an acquittal (37%).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 5,508 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). The series also draws on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Navy Verdicts in Contested Aggravated Assault Cases
A court-martial is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, whether the plea was entirely not guilty or mixed. The Navy has 13 such Article 128 cases with a verdict in the 2016 to 2025 records.
Zero of the 13 ended in a full acquittal. The remaining 6 ended in a partial acquittal, meaning the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another.
| Year | Navy: full acquittals of contested cases |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 0 of 1 |
| 2020 | 0 of 1 |
| 2021 | 0 of 4 |
| 2022 | 0 of 1 |
| 2023 | 0 of 3 |
| 2024 | 0 of 2 |
| 2025 | 0 of 1 |
How Small the Yearly Counts Are
The table gives the Navy cases by year. There were 4 cases in 2021 and 3 in 2023. The other listed years had 1 or 2 cases each, and no cases are listed for 2017, 2018, or 2019.
With counts this small, the Navy rate for any one year says very little. The total of 13 cases is the more useful figure.
Who Decided Guilt
Judge alone decided 7 of the 13 cases, and none ended in a full acquittal. Members decided 1 case, and 1 case is listed under enlisted members. The forum is not listed for 5 cases.
Navy and Marine Corps records usually do not show who decided guilt. For that reason, no comparison of judges and members can be drawn from them.
What Federal Assault Data Counts
The Federal Judicial Center reports on defendants charged under 18 U.S.C. 113, which covers assaults within federal jurisdiction. There were 5,508 defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Of them, 3,910 (71%) pleaded guilty, 1,369 (25%) had their cases dismissed, and 229 (4%) went to trial. A conviction by plea or at trial came in 4,055 cases (74%).
Acquittals at Federal Trials
Of the 229 trials, 84 ended in an acquittal (37%). Jury trials numbered 177, with 62 acquittals (35%). Bench trials, which a judge decides, numbered 52, with 22 acquittals (42%).
Federal acquittals at trial were more common than full acquittals in the Navy cases, where there were none.
Why the Counts Do Not Match
The Navy figure is for one offense and counts contested cases that reached a verdict. The federal figure is for all assault charges under section 113 and counts trials only.
Federal case data does not report partial acquittals separately, so the 6 Navy partial acquittals have no federal counterpart in this data. The grand jury also screens federal felonies before trial. A court-martial has no grand jury.
What the Records Cannot Show
A group of 13 cases is small. One different verdict would change the percentages a great deal.
The records do not show the evidence in each case, the charges that were dropped, or what happened to the accused after a partial acquittal.
How We Counted
Navy courts-martial charging aggravated assault (Article 128) with trial dates in 2016 to 2025 that were contested and reached a verdict (13). Federal: defendants charged under 18 U.S.C. 113 (assaults within federal jurisdiction) whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (5,508), Federal Judicial Center.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
Different cases reach each system. Federal prosecutors bring a narrow set of cases. In fiscal year 2024, immigration and drug trafficking cases were 59% of everyone sentenced in federal court (36,664 of 61,678). Many crimes that the military prosecutes, such as most assaults, most sexual assaults between adults, and drug use, are usually state crimes for civilians and reach federal court only in special situations, such as on federal land or in Indian Country. A federal case and a court-martial for the same crime can involve different kinds of facts.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
Offense categories do not line up exactly. Each comparison uses a federal offense group chosen to match the military article as closely as possible (see the crosswalk). Some matches are close; others are partial. The post says which federal guideline or statute was used and why it is not an exact match.
How "plea" and "trial" are counted. In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025 (overview)
- Aggravated Assault Charges: Federal Trial Acquittals vs. Contested Army Courts-Martial
- Aggravated Assault Charges: Federal Trial Acquittals vs. Contested Marine Corps Courts-Martial
- Aggravated Assault Sentences Since the 2023 Military Sentencing Reform: What the Data Shows So Far
- Aggravated Assault Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal
- Guilty Pleas in Aggravated Assault Cases: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
- Aggravated Assault Convictions of Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Courts-Martial Compared With Federal Court
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Assault Conviction? (court-martial data)
- Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 128 Cases: What Happened at Trial (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Article 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 128 UCMJ: Assault, Aggravated Assault, and Strangulation (law firm reference page)
- Forum Selection (law firm reference page)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
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.