Federal Trials vs. Courts-Martial in 2023: How Often Each Ended in Acquittal
Partial acquittals were common among 2023 courts-martial: 101 of 362 contested cases with a verdict (28%). Another 146 ended in a full acquittal (40%). In federal court, 263 of the 1,840 trials that ended in fiscal year 2023 produced an acquittal (14%).
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In brief: Partial acquittals were common among 2023 courts-martial: 101 of 362 contested cases with a verdict (28%). Another 146 ended in a full acquittal (40%). In federal court, 263 of the 1,840 trials that ended in fiscal year 2023 produced an acquittal (14%).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 72,255 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal year 2023, 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.
Full and Partial Acquittals in 2023 Courts-Martial
The court-martial records list 362 contested cases with a 2023 trial date and a verdict. A contested case begins with a plea of not guilty to at least one charge. Full acquittals numbered 146 (40%).
Partial acquittals numbered 101 (28%). In a partial acquittal, the accused is found not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another. Federal data does not report this category separately, so the federal side of the comparison covers only complete acquittals at trial.
Each Service in 2023
The Army had 58 full acquittals in 147 contested cases. The Air Force had 67 in 120. The Navy had 19 in 57, and the Marine Corps had 2 in 38.
The Marine Corps count of 38 cases is the smallest of the services in 2023, and its 2 full acquittals are well below the other services' counts. The Army records start in 2020 and the Marine Corps records in 2017, so every service is present in 2023.
Members and Judges Alone in 2023
Members decided 183 cases and acquitted fully in 90 (49%). Enlisted members acquitted fully in 75 of 144 cases (52%). Officer members acquitted fully in 15 of 39 (38%).
A judge alone decided 146 cases, with 40 full acquittals (27%). For 33 cases the forum is not listed, and 16 of those ended in a full acquittal (48%).
How Federal Cases Ended in Fiscal Year 2023
The Federal Judicial Center reports 72,255 defendants whose cases ended in this year. Guilty pleas accounted for 64,166 (89%). Dismissals accounted for 6,249 (9%). Trials accounted for 1,840 (3%).
Within the trials, 1,596 were jury trials with 184 acquittals (12%). Bench trials numbered 244, with 79 acquittals (32%). Convictions by plea or at trial totaled 65,743 (91%).
Where the Federal Rate Falls in the Table
The 2023 federal trial acquittal rate of 14% is lower than the 17% of 2022 and higher than the 13% of 2024. The 2023 court-martial rate of 40% is higher than the 35% of 2022 and the 36% of 2024.
The table lists every year from 2016 to 2025 for both series.
| 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%) |
Why the Figures Are Not Directly Comparable
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. The court-martial counts follow trial dates. The federal count includes any trial, while the court-martial count includes contested cases that may have had a mixed plea.
A grand jury indictment starts a federal felony case. A court-martial has no grand jury.
What the Records Leave Unanswered
The records do not explain the share of partial acquittals, and they do not show the charges involved. They also give no way to tell how many partial acquittals ended with a conviction on a minor charge or a serious one. They cannot show whether the 2023 figures differ from earlier years for any reason other than the cases themselves.
How We Counted
Courts-martial: contested cases with a verdict and a trial date in 2023 (362). Federal: defendants whose cases ended in fiscal year 2023 (72,255; 1,840 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 2022: How Often Each Ended in Acquittal (previous or next year)
- Federal Trials vs. Courts-Martial in 2024: 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.