How Often Do Contested Courts-Martial End in a Full Acquittal?
In Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records from 2021–2025, 423 of 1318 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (32%). That is lower than the 36% for all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data.
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Short answer: In Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records from 2021–2025, 423 of 1318 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (32%). That is lower than the 36% for all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data. Another 450 cases (34%) ended in a partial acquittal, and 895 ended in a conviction on at least one charge.
Full Acquittal in 32% of Contested Cases
A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, with a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. All 1318 cases in this group were contested and reached a verdict.
423 of them ended in a full acquittal, meaning the accused was acquitted of all charges. That is 32%, lower than the 36% for all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data.
Partial Acquittals Were Slightly More Common
450 of the 1318 cases ended in a partial acquittal (34%). In a partial acquittal, the accused is found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. A partial acquittal still counts as a conviction, and a sentence follows.
In all, 895 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. The sentence figures below use those 895 convictions.
Conviction Rates for the Top Charges
Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was the most common charge, in 460 cases. It also had the lowest share ending in a conviction on that article: 200 of 460 (43%).
Article 128 (assault) ended in a conviction on that article in 223 of 398 cases (56%). Article 134, the general article, did so in 174 of 248 (70%). Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) had the highest share, with 177 of 238 (74%). A conviction on one article and an acquittal on another can happen in the same case.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 460 | 200 (43%) | 2.5 years |
| Art. 128 Assault | 398 | 223 (56%) | 1 year |
| Art. 134 General article | 248 | 174 (70%) | 1.5 years |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 238 | 177 (74%) | 6 months |
Which Articles Were Charged?
The charge lists cover 1305 of the 1318 cases. Article 120 appeared in 35% of these cases, compared with 40% of all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data. Article 128 appeared in 30%, compared with 36%.
Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared more often: 13%, compared with 10%. Article 134 was charged in 19% of cases and Article 92 in 18%. A case with three articles appears in three rows of the table.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 460 | 35% | 40% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 398 | 30% | 36% |
| Art. 134 General article | 248 | 19% | 17% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 238 | 18% | 16% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 167 | 13% | 10% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 117 | 9% | 9% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 115 | 9% | 9% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 105 | 8% | 9% |
Confinement After a Contested Conviction
Confinement was part of 70% of the 895 convictions. The median confinement was 1 year, the same as the median for all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 3 years or longer, and 5 were confinement for life.
265 convictions had no confinement (30%). 298 of the 895 convictions were sentenced to more than one year (33%), about the same as the 32% for the comparison group. 97 were sentenced to 5 years or more.
These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 265 | 30% | 31% |
| Under 6 months | 229 | 26% | 24% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 103 | 12% | 12% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 201 | 22% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 97 | 11% | 12% |
Court Level
896 of the cases were general courts-martial and 412 were special courts-martial. The court level is not listed for 10 cases. The general share was 69%, compared with 67% for all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data.
At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.8 years. At special courts-martial, it was 3 months. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Punitive Discharges and Dismissals
456 of 794 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 239 dishonorable discharges and 217 bad-conduct discharges. For all contested Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases in the data, the share was 55%.
73 convicted officers or warrant officers appear here, and 36 were dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank, Installations, and Years
Among the accused with rank recorded, 621 were junior enlisted members, 552 were NCOs, and 105 were officers.
Fort Hood had 84 of these cases. San Diego, California, and Fort Bragg each had 71, Camp Pendleton, California, had 61, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 59. These 5 installations account for 26% of the 1318 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
By year, there were 322 contested cases in 2021, 287 in 2022, 242 in 2023, 252 in 2024, and 215 in 2025.
Limits of the Records
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. Rules that took effect in December 2023 for prosecution decisions and sentencing depend on the offense date, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both old and new rules.
The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. They also do not show cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial with trial dates in 2021–2025, a not-guilty or mixed plea, and a result posted (1318). Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals, so they are left out.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- By Year (hub)
- Are Convicted Military Officers Dismissed?
- Can a Special Court-Martial Give a Dishonorable Discharge?
- Court-Martial Sentences: Junior Enlisted Members Compared With NCOs
- Does Every Court-Martial Conviction Bring a Punitive Discharge?
- Does Pleading Guilty at a Court-Martial Mean Confinement?
- How Often Do Army Courts-Martial End in a Partial Acquittal?
- Judge Alone or Members: How Contested Army and Air Force Cases Ended
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.