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# 18 U.S.C. 1111, Murder: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1111-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:32.000Z
- Description: Among 575 federal defendants convicted under 18 U.S.C. 1111 in cases that ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 568 (99%) received a prison term on that charge. The median term was 223 months (18.6 years), and 102 received life. Of all 714 defendants, 467 (65%) pleaded guilty, 125 (18%) had their case
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › 18 U.S.C. 1111

**In brief:** Among 575 federal defendants convicted under 18 U.S.C. 1111 in cases that ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 568 (99%) received a prison term on that charge. The median term was 223 months (18.6 years), and 102 received life. Of all 714 defendants, 467 (65%) pleaded guilty, 125 (18%) had their cases dismissed, and 122 (17%) went to trial.

Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 714 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Prison Terms After Conviction

Title 18, section 1111 of the U.S. Code carries the heading "Murder". The Federal Judicial Center counted 714 defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case fell under this section.

Conviction came for 575 of the 714 (81%), either by guilty plea or by a verdict at trial. Of those 575, 568 were sentenced to prison on this charge.

The median prison term was 223 months, or 18.6 years. That median counts only defendants with a term of 1 month or more. Life terms were imposed on 102 defendants.

Every one of the 714 charges was recorded as a felony. No Class A misdemeanor or petty offense appears under this section.

## How Often Did These Cases Go to Trial?

Trials ended 122 of these cases, or 17%. Guilty pleas were still the most common result: 467 defendants (65%).

Juries decided 118 of the 122 trials. Of those jury trials, 10 ended in an acquittal (8%). Judges decided the other 4 as bench trials, and all 4 ended in an acquittal.

Across all 122 trials, 14 ended in an acquittal (11%). The bench trial count is too small to compare with the jury figure in any useful way.

## What a Dismissal Means in These Records

Charges were dismissed for 125 defendants (18%). The records count a case as dismissed whenever the charges were dropped. That includes dismissals the government asked for, such as after a defendant pleaded guilty in a different case.

So a dismissal does not always mean the defendant left the federal system with no conviction. The records here do not separate those situations.

## Year-by-Year Counts

The number of cases ending each year varied. The lowest count was 34 in fiscal year 2020\. The highest was 117, reached in both 2022 and 2024.

Fiscal year 2022 had the lowest guilty plea rate in the table, 46%, and the highest dismissal rate, 38%. In 2025, 97 cases ended, with 71% guilty pleas and 9% dismissals.

Trials in a single year ranged from 2 in 2021 to 22 in 2024\. With counts this small, a yearly acquittal figure can move a lot from 1 or 2 cases.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 48          | 67%            | 10%       | 11     | 0 (0%)             |
| 2017        | 36          | 75%            | 14%       | 4      | 0 (0 of 4)         |
| 2018        | 50          | 64%            | 16%       | 10     | 0 (0%)             |
| 2019        | 56          | 73%            | 11%       | 9      | 2 (2 of 9)         |
| 2020        | 34          | 68%            | 15%       | 6      | 2 (2 of 6)         |
| 2021        | 51          | 63%            | 33%       | 2      | 1 (1 of 2)         |
| 2022        | 117         | 46%            | 38%       | 18     | 4 (22%)            |
| 2023        | 108         | 69%            | 12%       | 21     | 0 (0%)             |
| 2024        | 117         | 71%            | 10%       | 22     | 2 (9%)             |
| 2025        | 97          | 71%            | 9%        | 19     | 3 (16%)            |

## Defense Counsel at the End of the Case

Federal public or community defenders represented 381 defendants (53%). CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 286 (40%). Retained private counsel represented 33 (5%), and 1 defendant was self-represented.

Guilty plea rates were 64% for public defender cases, 72% for CJA panel cases, and 55% for retained counsel. Dismissals were 22%, 8%, and 12% in the same order.

At trial, 8 of 53 public defender trials ended in an acquittal (15%), 4 of 58 CJA panel trials did (7%), and 2 of 11 retained counsel trials did (18%).

These figures describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Counsel type is recorded when the case ends, and defendants with hired lawyers and appointed lawyers face different charges and circumstances.

| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| Federal public or community defender   | 381        | 64%            | 22%       | 53     | 8 (15%)            |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 286        | 72%            | 8%        | 58     | 4 (7%)             |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 33         | 55%            | 12%       | 11     | 2 (18%)            |
| Self-represented                       | 1          | 0 of 1         | 1 of 1    | 0      | 0                  |

## Limits of These Numbers

The counts follow each defendant's most serious charge at the end of the case, not the charge first filed. They cannot show the facts of any case, the strength of the evidence, or why a case ended the way it did.

This section is part of the approved pairing with Article 118 for court-martial comparisons, which appear in separate posts.

### How We Counted

Every federal defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end of the case (TTITLE1) was under 18 U.S.C. 1111, any subsection (714), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4\. Type of counsel is TCOUNSEL; labels from the FJC criminal codebook. Section heading from the U.S. Code as published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (release point 119-136).

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.

**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.

**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.

**Type of counsel describes groups of cases, not lawyers.** The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of the case. Defendants who hire a lawyer differ from defendants who receive an appointed lawyer in their charges, criminal history, and circumstances, and some defendants change lawyers during a case. Differences in outcomes by type of counsel therefore cannot be credited to the type of lawyer.

## Related Analysis

- [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [18 U.S.C. 1040, Fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1040-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1071, Concealing person from arrest: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1071-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1112, Manslaughter: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1112-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1114, Protection of officers and employees of the United States: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1114-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-outcomes/)
- [Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rates-vs-courts-martial/)
- [Is Army Murder Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 118, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-118-trend-2021-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [How Has Article 118 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-118-trend-2017-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [Article 118 (Murder): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-118-courts-martial/) (court-martial data)
- [Article 118 UCMJ: Murder](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-118/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](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.