Manslaughter Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal
Federal trials for manslaughter ended in an acquittal in 10 of 28 cases (36%), in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Among 12 contested courts-martial for manslaughter under Article 119 that reached a verdict from 2021 to 2025, 3 ended in a full acquittal (25%). These rates count different groups, and both
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In brief: Federal trials for manslaughter ended in an acquittal in 10 of 28 cases (36%), in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Among 12 contested courts-martial for manslaughter under Article 119 that reached a verdict from 2021 to 2025, 3 ended in a full acquittal (25%). These rates count different groups, and both rest on small numbers.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 599 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.
Federal Manslaughter Trials Are Rare
The Federal Judicial Center counted 599 defendants charged under 18 U.S.C. 1112 whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of these, 551 pleaded guilty (92%) and 20 had their cases dismissed (3%).
Only 28 defendants (5%) went to trial. Overall, 569 of the 599 (95%) were convicted, by plea or at trial.
How Many Federal Trials Ended in Acquittal?
Of the 28 trials, 10 ended in an acquittal (36%). There were 26 jury trials with 9 acquittals (35%). There were 2 bench trials, decided by a judge, with 1 acquittal.
The yearly counts are very small. The highest was 9 trials in fiscal year 2024, and 2 of them ended in an acquittal. Most years had 1 to 3 trials.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 56 | 96% | 0% | 2 | 1 (1 of 2) |
| 2017 | 64 | 97% | 0% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2018 | 59 | 88% | 7% | 3 | 1 (1 of 3) |
| 2019 | 54 | 93% | 4% | 2 | 1 (1 of 2) |
| 2020 | 29 | 93% | 0% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2021 | 46 | 91% | 7% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2022 | 75 | 89% | 7% | 3 | 2 (2 of 3) |
| 2023 | 66 | 89% | 8% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2024 | 79 | 87% | 1% | 9 | 2 (2 of 9) |
| 2025 | 71 | 97% | 0% | 2 | 2 (2 of 2) |
Contested Courts-Martial That Reached a Verdict
A court-martial is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. For Article 119 manslaughter in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, 12 contested cases reached a verdict from 2021 to 2025.
3 of the 12 ended in a full acquittal (25%). Another 3 (25%) were partial acquittals, meaning not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another.
Air Force cases are left out. Air Force records rarely list the charges in acquittals.
Who Decided Guilt
The records list the deciding forum for only some cases. A judge alone decided 2 cases, with no full acquittals. Members decided 2 cases, with 2 full acquittals, and both were enlisted members.
For 8 cases no forum is listed, and 1 of those ended in a full acquittal. Because most cases lack this field, and the counts are 2 to 8 cases per group, the records cannot show whether judges or members acquitted more often.
Year by Year
The first table sets the court-martial and federal counts side by side. The court-martial side has no contested cases reaching a verdict in 2016 through 2020 in this count, so the comparison is limited to 2021 to 2025.
In 2021 there was 1 full acquittal among 6 contested cases. In 2025 there were 2 among 3. Federal trials that year ended in 2 acquittals out of 2.
| Year | Courts-martial: full acquittals of contested cases | Federal: acquittals of trials |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0 of 0 | 1 of 2 |
| 2017 | 0 of 0 | 0 of 2 |
| 2018 | 0 of 0 | 1 of 3 |
| 2019 | 0 of 0 | 1 of 2 |
| 2020 | 0 of 0 | 0 of 2 |
| 2021 | 1 of 6 | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 0 of 0 | 2 of 3 |
| 2023 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 2 |
| 2024 | 0 of 2 | 2 of 9 |
| 2025 | 2 of 3 | 2 of 2 |
Why the Rates Do Not Count the Same Way
The federal rate is acquittals divided by trials. The court-martial rate is full acquittals divided by contested cases that reached a verdict. Federal data does not report partial acquittals separately.
A federal felony needs a grand jury indictment, and a court-martial has no grand jury. The records cannot show how that difference affects which cases reach a verdict, or why any single case ended as it did. The numbers are not a prediction for any case.
How We Counted
Courts-martial: Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial charging manslaughter (Article 119) with trial dates in 2016 to 2025 that were contested and reached a verdict (12). Federal: defendants charged under 18 U.S.C. 1112 whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (599; 28 trials), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4.
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)
- Murder and Manslaughter: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025 (overview)
- Guilty Pleas in Manslaughter Cases: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
- Manslaughter Convictions of Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Courts-Martial Compared With Federal Court
- Manslaughter Convictions of NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Courts-Martial Compared With Federal Court
- Manslaughter: Sentences After a Guilty Plea vs. After Trial, Federal Court and Courts-Martial
- Manslaughter Sentences: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Manslaughter: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial
- Guilty Pleas in Army Manslaughter Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 119 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Manslaughter Conviction? (court-martial data)
- Article 119 (Manslaughter): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 119 UCMJ: Voluntary and Involuntary Manslaughter (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.