18 U.S.C. 1112, Manslaughter: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Guilty pleas ended 551 of the 599 federal cases (92%) charged under 18 U.S.C. 1112 that closed in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 28 defendants (5%) went to trial, and 10 of those trials ended in an acquittal (36%). The median prison term for those convicted and sentenced to 1 month or more was 60 m
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › 18 U.S.C. 1112
In brief: Guilty pleas ended 551 of the 599 federal cases (92%) charged under 18 U.S.C. 1112 that closed in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 28 defendants (5%) went to trial, and 10 of those trials ended in an acquittal (36%). The median prison term for those convicted and sentenced to 1 month or more was 60 months (5 years).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 599 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 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.
Guilty Pleas Were the Usual Result
The U.S. Code heading for Title 18, section 1112 is "Manslaughter". Federal Judicial Center records list 599 defendants whose most serious charge, when the case ended, was under this section.
Of the 599, 551 pleaded guilty. Another 20 (3%) had their charges dismissed. The remaining 28 went to trial.
In total, 569 defendants (95%) were convicted, by plea or by a trial verdict. Each of the 599 charges was a felony in the records.
Which Trials Ended in Acquittal?
Juries heard 26 of the 28 trials and acquitted in 9 of them (35%). Judges heard the other 2 as bench trials, and 1 of the 2 ended in an acquittal.
Over all 28 trials, the acquittal rate was 36%. That rate is based on a small number of trials. It describes only the cases that went to trial, which were 5% of the total.
Sentences on This Charge
Of the 569 defendants convicted, 544 (96%) were sentenced to prison on this charge.
Among those with a prison term of 1 month or more, the median was 60 months. A median is the middle value when all the terms are put in order.
Defendants convicted but given no prison term on this charge are not part of that median. The records count only the term tied to this charge.
Counsel Type and Case Results
Federal public or community defenders handled 392 defendants (65%). CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers the court appoints, handled 149 (25%). Retained private counsel handled 56 (9%).
Guilty plea rates were 93% for both public defender and CJA panel cases and 84% for retained counsel cases. Dismissal rates were 3%, 3%, and 5%.
Trials were few in every group. Public defender cases had 15 trials with 7 acquittals (47%). CJA panel cases had 7 trials with no acquittals. Retained counsel cases had 6 trials with 3 acquittals.
The groups differ in charges and circumstances, and counsel type is noted only at the end of the case. These results describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 392 | 93% | 3% | 15 | 7 (47%) |
| CJA panel attorney | 149 | 93% | 3% | 7 | 0 (0 of 7) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 56 | 84% | 5% | 6 | 3 (3 of 6) |
Fiscal Years 2016 to 2025
The yearly count of cases ranged from 29 in fiscal year 2020 to 79 in fiscal year 2024. Guilty plea rates stayed between 87% and 97% in every year shown.
Fiscal year 2024 had the most trials, 9, with 2 acquittals. Most other years had 1 to 3 trials. A single acquittal in such a small group changes the yearly rate a great deal, so the yearly figures are not a trend.
| 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) |
What the Records Leave Out
The data counts defendants by their most serious charge at the end of the case. It cannot show what happened during plea talks, how strong the evidence was, or why any case was dismissed.
This section is paired with Article 119 in the approved crosswalk, and the court-martial comparisons are 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. 1112, any subsection (599), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- 18 U.S.C. 1071, Concealing person from arrest: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1111, Murder: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (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 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1152, Laws governing: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025
- Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 119 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025 (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)
- 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.