> ## 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. # Panels by the Numbers: The Data Behind S2 E24, Farce of a Panel - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/panels-by-the-numbers-s2e24/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:33:16.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T05:11:34.000Z - Description: Across 976 contested Army and Air Force courts-martial decided by members from 2019–2026, 48% ended in a full acquittal (465 of 976), compared with 44% in all contested Army and Air Force cases with a verdict. When members convicted, sentences were about the same as in all contested cases. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Episode Companions](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/episode-companions/) › S2 E24 **Short answer:** Across 976 contested Army and Air Force courts-martial decided by members from 2019–2026, 48% ended in a full acquittal (465 of 976), compared with 44% in all contested Army and Air Force cases with a verdict. When members convicted, sentences were about the same as in all contested cases. 59% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 60% overall. The median confinement was 1.2 years in both groups. Based on 976 cases · 2019–2026 · Army and Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## How Often Members Acquitted The podcast episode S2 E24, Farce of a Panel, discusses how members decide cases. This page gives the numbers from the trial records. Every case on this page was contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. Every case was decided by members, not by a military judge alone. Members returned a full acquittal in 465 of 976 cases that reached a verdict, or 48%. That is higher than the 44% in all contested Army and Air Force cases with a verdict. Another 236 cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another. ## Which Charges Ended in a Conviction? Conviction rates differed by charge. Among the top charges, Article 134, the general article, most often ended in a conviction on that article: 73 of 116 cases charging it (63%). Article 120, rape and sexual assault, least often ended in a conviction on that article: 148 of 325 (46%). When members convicted on an article, the median confinement differed by charge. It was 2.7 years for Article 120, 2 years for Article 134, 1.4 years for Article 128 assault, and 1 year for Article 128b domestic violence. A conviction on one article and an acquittal on another can happen in the same case, so these rows overlap. | Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it | | -------------------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 325 | 148 (46%) | 2.7 years | | Art. 128 Assault | 217 | 113 (52%) | 1.4 years | | Art. 128b Domestic violence | 127 | 65 (51%) | 1 year | | Art. 134 General article | 116 | 73 (63%) | 2 years | ## What Members Were Asked to Decide Charge lists exist for 752 of the 976 cases. Article 120 sexual assault was the most common charge, in 325 cases (43%). That is about the same as the 41% in all contested cases. Article 128 assault appeared in 29%, the same as the comparison group. Article 128b domestic violence appeared in 17%, compared with 16%. Drug offenses under Article 112a appeared in 11% of member cases, compared with 9% in the comparison group. A case with three articles appears in three rows of the table. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all contested Army and Air Force cases with a verdict | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | [Art. 120](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault | 325 | 43% | 41% | | [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault | 217 | 29% | 29% | | [Art. 128b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-128b-domestic-violence/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Domestic violence | 127 | 17% | 16% | | [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article | 116 | 15% | 18% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 100 | 13% | 14% | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 79 | 11% | 9% | | [Art. 120b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault of a child | 74 | 10% | 10% | | [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements | 48 | 6% | 7% | ## Confinement After a Panel Conviction Of 511 convictions, 386 carried confinement. The median confinement was 1.2 years, the same as in all contested Army and Air Force cases with a verdict. A quarter of the sentences were 3.5 years or longer, and 3 were life sentences. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case. Sentences longer than one year were about as common as in the comparison group: 200 of 511 convictions (39%), compared with 40%. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all contested Army and Air Force cases with a verdict | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | No confinement | 125 | 24% | 23% | | Under 6 months | 126 | 25% | 25% | | 6 months to 1 year | 60 | 12% | 11% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 124 | 24% | 27% | | 5 years or more | 76 | 15% | 14% | ## General and Special Courts-Martial A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable one. Of these cases, 749 were general courts-martial, with a median confinement of 1.6 years. 224 were special courts-martial, with a median of 2 months. The court level is not listed for 3 cases. The general share of 77% compares with 78% in all contested Army and Air Force cases with a verdict. ## Discharges and Dismissals A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. 269 of 458 convicted enlisted members received one (59%): 90 bad-conduct discharges and 179 dishonorable discharges. In the comparison group, the rate was 60%. For officers, the equivalent is a dismissal. Of 53 convicted officers or warrant officers in these cases, 32 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show. ## Rank, Panel Type, and Installations The accused were 472 junior enlisted members, 408 NCOs, and 94 officers. That mix is similar to all contested cases. There were 750 enlisted panels and 226 officer panels. The five installations with the most member-decided cases were Fort Hood (46), Fort Bragg (41), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (38), Wheeler Army Airfield (31), and Camp Humphreys (27). Together they had 19% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show anything about one installation. ## Year by Year and the Rule Changes By year, there were 86 cases in 2020, 214 in 2021, 179 in 2022, 177 in 2023, 134 in 2024, 117 in 2025, and 69 in 2026, a partial year. No case from 2019 appears on this page. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. For that reason, trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and the new rules. ## What the Records Cannot Show These figures cover only cases that reached a verdict by members. Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records do not show the evidence or any plea terms. They also cannot show what happened in deliberations. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Army and Air Force contested courts-martial with a verdict, 2019–2026, decided by an enlisted or officer panel. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Episode Companions](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/episode-companions/) (hub) - [The OSTC Years in the Data: Companion to S4 E1](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ostc-years-in-the-data-s4e1/) - [Behind S2 E2: Courts-Martial at MCAS Miramar by the Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/behind-s2-e2-courts-martial-at-mcas-miramar-by-the-numbers/) - [Camp Pendleton Courts-Martial Since 2020: The Numbers Behind S1 E32 and E33](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-pendleton-courts-martial-since-2020-the-numbers-behind-s1-e32-and-e33/) - [Fort Hood After 2009: What Its Courts-Martial Look Like Now](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-hood-after-2009-what-its-courts-martial-look-like-now/) - [Keesler AFB in the Records: The Data Behind S1 E11](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/keesler-afb-in-the-records-the-data-behind-s1-e11/) - [S2 E24: Farce of a Panel](https://www.bodiesburied.com/s2e24-farce-of-a-panel/) (podcast, members) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](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.