criminal defendant
Person facing prosecution
A criminal defendant is a person formally accused of a crime and facing prosecution in court.
The term distinguishes someone charged with a criminal offense—theft, assault, murder—from a civil defendant being sued in a private dispute.
Criminal defendants have constitutional protections including the right to counsel, the presumption of innocence, and the right against self-incrimination: The criminal defendant chose not to testify.
- accusedCharged with wrongdoing
- suspectBelieve to be likely
- perp walkPost-arrest media spectacle
- arraignmentCharge-reading court session
- trialJudicial examination of claims
courtroom · verdict · guilty · innocent · lawyer · bail · bail hearing · charges · indictment · witness · testimony · beyond reasonable doubt · sentencing · life sentence · prison · appeal · plea · plea bargain
- defendantsaccused, respondent
- litigantslitigant, plaintiff, respondent, petitioner, claimant
- interrogation rightsMiranda rights, Miranda warning, right to silence, right to counsel, Fifth Amendment
criminal defendantprosecutor
Government's trial lawyer
prosecuting attorney · district attorney · state's attorney · victim · plaintiff
criminal, defendant, crime, crimes, criminals, criminally, criminality, criminalize, criminalized