Kidnapping Charges: Federal Trial Acquittals vs. Contested Army Courts-Martial
From 2021 to 2025, 10 contested Army courts-martial for kidnapping under Article 125 reached a verdict, and 3 ended in a full acquittal (30%). In federal court, 25 of 191 trials for kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. 1201 ended in an acquittal (13%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The Army count is very small
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In brief: From 2021 to 2025, 10 contested Army courts-martial for kidnapping under Article 125 reached a verdict, and 3 ended in a full acquittal (30%). In federal court, 25 of 191 trials for kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. 1201 ended in an acquittal (13%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The Army count is very small, and the federal count includes a different set of cases.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 944 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.
Army Kidnapping Cases That Reached a Verdict
The Army records show 10 contested courts-martial charging kidnapping that reached a verdict, with trial dates from 2021 to 2025. A contested case is one where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. Kidnapping has been Article 125 since 2019.
3 of the 10 cases ended in a full acquittal (30%), meaning the accused was found not guilty of every charge. Another 5 (50%) were partial acquittals. In a partial acquittal, the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge but guilty of another.
The partial acquittals matter for reading the result. In those 5 cases, the accused was still convicted of at least one charge, and the full-acquittal figure does not count them.
By Year and by Who Decided Guilt
The table shows the Army cases by year. The single case in 2021 ended in a full acquittal. In 2022, 1 of 3 cases did. In 2023, none of 2 did. In 2024, 1 of 3 did, and in 2025, none of 1 did.
Judge-alone trials made up 4 of the 10 cases, and 1 ended in a full acquittal. Members decided 6 cases, and 2 ended in a full acquittal. The records list enlisted members as the forum for 6 cases, with 2 full acquittals. These forum groups overlap in the record, and each is a handful of cases.
| Year | Army: full acquittals of contested cases |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 of 3 |
| 2023 | 0 of 2 |
| 2024 | 1 of 3 |
| 2025 | 0 of 1 |
Federal Trials for Kidnapping
The Federal Judicial Center counted 944 defendants charged under 18 U.S.C. 1201 whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of these, 652 (69%) pleaded guilty, 101 (11%) had their cases dismissed, and 191 (20%) went to trial.
Of the 191 trials, 25 ended in an acquittal (13%). Jury trials numbered 185, with 21 acquittals (11%). Bench trials, decided by a judge, numbered 6, with 4 acquittals.
Taking all 944 defendants, 818 (87%) were convicted, by plea or at trial. Federal case data does not report partial acquittals separately.
Why the Rates Are Not Directly Comparable
The Army figure is a share of contested cases that reached a verdict. The federal figure is a share of trials. Federal trials also include defendants who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others, and the federal data does not separate them.
The federal data counts every defendant whose case ended, including dismissals. The court-martial count starts at contested cases that reached a verdict, so dismissals and guilty pleas are outside it.
The systems also screen cases differently before trial. A federal felony needs a grand jury indictment, and federal prosecutors decide which cases to bring. A court-martial has no grand jury.
What the Records Cannot Show
With 10 Army cases, one more or one fewer full acquittal would change the percentage a great deal. The records cannot show why any case ended as it did, how many Army kidnapping charges were dropped or ended in a guilty plea before trial, or what the rate would be over a longer period.
The federal years are fiscal years, and the Army years are by trial date. The periods do not match.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial charging kidnapping (Article 125 since 2019) with trial dates in 2016 to 2025 that were contested and reached a verdict (10). Federal: defendants charged under 18 U.S.C. 1201 whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (944), 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)
- Robbery and Kidnapping: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025 (overview)
- Kidnapping Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal
- Guilty Pleas in Kidnapping Cases: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
- Kidnapping Convictions of Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Courts-Martial Compared With Federal Court
- Kidnapping: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial
- Is Army Kidnapping Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 125, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 125 UCMJ: Kidnapping (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.