Federal Trials vs. Courts-Martial in 2021: How Often Each Ended in Acquittal
The number of contested courts-martial with a verdict rose to 459 in 2021, and 166 of them ended in a full acquittal (36%). Federal courts tried 1,081 defendants in fiscal year 2021, and 196 trials ended in an acquittal (18%). The federal rate was the highest in the table.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Fede › Acquittals in 2021
In brief: The number of contested courts-martial with a verdict rose to 459 in 2021, and 166 of them ended in a full acquittal (36%). Federal courts tried 1,081 defendants in fiscal year 2021, and 196 trials ended in an acquittal (18%). The federal rate was the highest in the table.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 63,725 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal year 2021, 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.
A Larger Number of Court-Martial Cases
The 2021 court-martial records hold 459 contested cases with a verdict, compared with 167 in 2020. A contested case has a not-guilty or mixed plea. The records do not explain the increase.
Full acquittals numbered 166 (36%). Partial acquittals numbered 127 (28%), a larger share than in earlier years in this data.
Together, full and partial acquittals mean that a substantial group of 2021 cases ended with at least some charge not proved. The federal data has no matching category.
Army Records Add Cases
By service, the Army had 67 full acquittals in 190 contested cases. The Air Force had 65 in 137. The Navy had 34 in 76. The Marine Corps had 0 in 56.
The Marine Corps count is much larger than in earlier years, and none of the 56 cases ended in a full acquittal. The Army records started in 2020 and the Marine Corps records in 2017.
Forum Differences
A judge alone decided 184 cases and acquitted fully in 39 (21%). Members decided 224 and acquitted fully in 101 (45%). Enlisted members acquitted fully in 81 of 172 cases (47%), and officer members in 20 of 52 (38%).
The remaining 51 cases have no forum listed, with 26 full acquittals (51%).
Federal Cases That Ended in Fiscal Year 2021
There were 63,725 defendants with cases ending in this fiscal year. Pleas of guilty accounted for 57,631 (90%), and dismissals for 5,013 (8%).
Trials were 1,081 (2%). Among them, 918 were jury trials with 141 acquittals (15%), and 163 were bench trials with 55 acquittals (34%). Convictions reached 58,516 (92%).
What Makes These Figures Hard to Match
The federal rate divides acquittals by trials. The court-martial rate divides full acquittals by contested cases. Partial acquittals are counted only on the military side.
With the Marine Corps and the Army both contributing many cases in 2021, the mix of services differs from earlier years. A change in the overall rate could reflect that mix, though the records cannot show it.
Federal trial counts moved the other way. There were 1,081 trials in fiscal year 2021, the lowest total in the table, while the federal acquittal rate rose to 18%.
All Years Side by Side
The table runs from 2016 to 2025. The 2021 court-martial rate of 36% is lower than the 49% of 2020 and the 40% of 2016. The federal rate of 18% is higher than the 14% of 2020 and the 16% of 2016.
| Year | Courts-martial: full acquittals | Federal trials: acquittals |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 71 of 179 (40%) | 291 of 1,853 (16%) |
| 2017 | 87 of 217 (40%) | 276 of 1,874 (15%) |
| 2018 | 90 of 239 (38%) | 320 of 1,879 (17%) |
| 2019 | 90 of 210 (43%) | 287 of 1,950 (15%) |
| 2020 | 81 of 167 (49%) | 199 of 1,425 (14%) |
| 2021 | 166 of 459 (36%) | 196 of 1,081 (18%) |
| 2022 | 144 of 411 (35%) | 290 of 1,669 (17%) |
| 2023 | 146 of 362 (40%) | 263 of 1,840 (14%) |
| 2024 | 123 of 340 (36%) | 220 of 1,723 (13%) |
| 2025 | 106 of 286 (37%) | 192 of 1,555 (12%) |
Limits
The records cannot say why trial counts differ by service or year. They also cannot show whether the larger 2021 court-martial total reflects more trials being held, more records being kept, or both. A grand jury is required in federal felony cases and absent in courts-martial, so the cases reaching a verdict are screened differently.
How We Counted
Courts-martial: contested cases with a verdict and a trial date in 2021 (459). Federal: defendants whose cases ended in fiscal year 2021 (63,725; 1,081 trials), 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.
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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials? (overview)
- Federal Trials vs. Courts-Martial in 2020: How Often Each Ended in Acquittal (previous or next year)
- Federal Trials vs. Courts-Martial in 2022: How Often Each Ended in Acquittal (previous or next year)
- 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.