> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Acquittal Rates: Federal Trials vs. Contested Army Courts-Martial, 2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rate-vs-army-courts-martial/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:38:53.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:38:53.000Z - Description: Army records show 277 full acquittals among 724 contested courts-martial that reached a verdict, or 38%. Federal trials from fiscal years 2016 to 2025 ended in an acquittal 15% of the time: 2,534 of 16,849. The Army records start in 2020, so the figures cover different spans of years. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Fede](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rates-vs-courts-martial/) › Acquittals: Army **In brief:** Army records show 277 full acquittals among 724 contested courts-martial that reached a verdict, or 38%. Federal trials from fiscal years 2016 to 2025 ended in an acquittal 15% of the time: 2,534 of 16,849\. The Army records start in 2020, so the figures cover different spans of years. Updated November 2, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 · Military Trial Results This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 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](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/). ## What Do the Army Records Show? The Army data counts contested courts-martial from 2020 to 2025\. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 724 contested cases with a verdict, 277 ended in a full acquittal (38%). Another 299 cases (41%) were partial acquittals. In a partial acquittal, the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another. Those cases are not in the 38% figure. ## Does the Army Rate Depend on Who Decided Guilt? The records separate cases by the forum that decided guilt. Judge-alone cases numbered 282, with 70 full acquittals (25%). Cases decided by members numbered 421, with 186 full acquittals (44%). Within the member cases, enlisted panels had 164 full acquittals in 351 cases (47%). Officer panels had 22 full acquittals in 70 cases (31%). A further 21 cases list no forum, and all 21 ended in a full acquittal. The 21 cases with no forum listed are a data gap, not a separate type of trial. The records cannot say how they were decided. ## How Often Did Federal Trials End in Acquittal? The Federal Judicial Center counted 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Of these, 678,652 (90%) pleaded guilty, and 58,307 (8%) had their cases dismissed. Only 16,849 (2%) went to trial. Of the 16,849 trials, 2,534 ended in an acquittal (15%). Jury trials made up 14,615 of them, with 1,838 acquittals (13%). Bench trials, which a judge decides, numbered 2,234, with 696 acquittals (31%). Altogether, 692,967 defendants (92%) were convicted, by plea or at trial. ## Why Are These Percentages Not the Same Kind of Number? The federal figure divides acquittals by trials. The Army figure divides full acquittals by contested cases, and a contested case can include an accused who pleaded guilty to some charges and not guilty to others. A federal trial is a narrower group. Federal data also does not report partial acquittals separately. Because of that, the Army partial acquittals have no federal counterpart in these records. The pre-trial steps differ as well. A federal felony needs a grand jury indictment. A court-martial has no grand jury, and an Article 32 hearing officer's conclusions are only recommendations. ## How Do the Years Line Up? The table sets Army results beside federal results for each year. The Army shows no records for 2016 through 2019\. The 2020 row holds a single case, 1 of 1, so it says little about a rate. | Year | Army: full acquittals of contested cases | Federal: acquittals of trials | | ---- | ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | 2016 | no records | 291 of 1,853 (16%) | | 2017 | no records | 276 of 1,874 (15%) | | 2018 | no records | 320 of 1,879 (17%) | | 2019 | no records | 287 of 1,950 (15%) | | 2020 | 1 of 1 (1 of 1) | 199 of 1,425 (14%) | | 2021 | 67 of 190 (35%) | 196 of 1,081 (18%) | | 2022 | 66 of 175 (38%) | 290 of 1,669 (17%) | | 2023 | 58 of 147 (39%) | 263 of 1,840 (14%) | | 2024 | 46 of 124 (37%) | 220 of 1,723 (13%) | | 2025 | 39 of 87 (45%) | 192 of 1,555 (12%) | ## What Can the Army Comparison Not Show? The Army rate was 35% in 2021 and 45% in 2025, with each year in between recorded as well. Those counts get smaller over time, from 190 cases in 2021 to 87 in 2025. The records cannot show why a case ended in acquittal, what evidence was presented, or how the charges differed from federal charges. They also cannot show how many accused people were never tried. The comparison describes outcomes in separate systems, and it does not rank them. ### How We Counted Army: contested courts-martial (not-guilty or mixed plea) with a verdict and a trial date in 2016 to 2025 (724). Federal: every defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (753,808; 16,849 trials), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in 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. **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. ## 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) - [Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rates-vs-courts-martial/) (overview) - [Acquittal Rates: Federal Trials vs. Contested Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rate-vs-air-force-courts-martial/) - [Acquittal Rates: Federal Trials vs. Contested Navy Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rate-vs-navy-courts-martial/) - [Acquittal Rates: Federal Trials vs. Contested Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rate-vs-marine-corps-courts-martial/) - [Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial/) (court-martial data) - [Forum Selection](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/forum-selection/?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.