defendants

Noun

defendant (plural defendants)

1. In civil proceedings, the party responding to the complaint; one who is sued and called upon to make satisfaction for a wrong complained of by another.
   • 404(b)—including a series of domestic abuse incidents defendant perpetrated against victim, a PFA against defendant by victim, and other third-party PFAs entered against defendant to protect other women—as well as evidence from[…]2019 November 29, Daniel J. Anders, Bobby Ochoa III, Ohlbaum on the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence, LexisNexis, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   respondent

2. In criminal proceedings, the accused.
   • Unintended mathwashing occurs when the algorithm is left unchecked, and, learning from historical data, amplifies social bias. The U.S. justice system uses an algorithm called COMPAS to determine a criminal's likelihood to re-offend. COMPAS has been proven by Pro Publica to predict that black...2018 January 29, Sophie Kleber, “As AI Meets the Reputation Economy, We're All Being Silently Judged”, in Harvard Business Review, Brighton, M.A.: Harvard Business Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived...

See all 3 meanings of defendant