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Credit: Joan Wong for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica
Military Injustice

He was accused of sexual assault, she of using drugs. The military dealt with them very differently.

Comparing the cases of Pvt. Olivia Ochoa and Pfc. Christian Alvarado provides a striking example of Army commanders’ uneven use of pretrial confinement.

By Ren Larson, Vianna Davila and Lexi Churchill, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica
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This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.

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Military commanders have the power to detain service members ahead of trial through a process known as pretrial confinement. Commanders consider whether the suspect may flee or reoffend and if less severe restrictions can keep the person out of trouble. An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune into the Army’s use of pretrial confinement found that soldiers who were detained weren’t always the ones accused of the most serious crimes.

Below are examples of how a soldier accused of sexual assault and another accused of drug offenses were treated differently.

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Information about the authors

Ren Larson’s staff photo
Vianna Davila’s staff photo

Vianna Davila

Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit

Vianna.Davila@propublica.org

@ViannaDavila

Lexi Churchill’s staff photo

Lexi Churchill

Research Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit

Lexi.Churchill@propublica.org

@LChurchilll

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