10 U.S.C. § 845
Section 845 · Art. 45. Pleas of the accused
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 381 court decisions — leading case United States v. Prater (1991)
Most recently applied in United States v. Mull (June 2017)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 10 U.S.C. § 934 · 10 U.S.C. § 866 · 10 U.S.C. § 859
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Irregular and Similar Pleas.—If an accused after arraignment makes an irregular pleading, or after a plea of guilty sets up matter inconsistent with the plea, or if it appears that he has entered the plea of guilty improvidently or through lack of understanding of its meaning and effect, or if he fails or refuses to plead, a plea of not guilty shall be entered in the record, and the court shall proceed as though he had pleaded not guilty.
(b) Pleas of Guilty.—A plea of guilty by the accused may not be received to any charge or specification alleging an offense for which the death penalty is mandatory. With respect to any other charge or specification to which a plea of guilty has been made by the accused and accepted by the military judge, a finding of guilty of the charge or specification may be entered immediately without vote. This finding shall constitute the finding of the court unless the plea of guilty is withdrawn prior to announcement of the sentence, in which event the proceedings shall continue as though the accused had pleaded not guilty.
(c) Harmless Error.—A variance from the requirements of this article is harmless error if the variance does not materially prejudice the substantial rights of the accused.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
845(b)
50:620(b).
In subsection (b), the word "may" is substituted for the word "shall".
Amendments
2016—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–328, §5227(c)(1), inserted heading.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–328, §5227(c)(2), inserted heading.
Pub. L. 114–328, §5227(a), substituted "is mandatory" for "may be adjudged" and struck out "or by a court-martial without a military judge" after "by the military judge" and ", if permitted by regulations of the Secretary concerned," after "charge or specification may".
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–328, §5227(b), added subsec. (c).
1968—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 90–632, §2(19)(A), substituted "after arraignment" for "arraigned before a court-martial".
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 90–632, §2(19)(B), inserted provisions covering the making and accepting of a guilty plea to charges or specifications other than charges and specifications alleging an offense for which the death penalty may be adjudged.
Effective Date of 2016 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 114–328 effective on Jan. 1, 2019, as designated by the President, with implementing regulations and provisions relating to applicability to various situations, see section 5542 of Pub. L. 114–328 and Ex. Ord. No. 13825, set out as notes under section 801 of this title.
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 90–632 effective first day of tenth month following October 1968, see section 4 of Pub. L. 90–632, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.