- public defender
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public defender n: a lawyer usu. holding public office who represents criminal defendants unable to pay for legal assistance
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- public defender
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n.An attorney employed by the government to represent criminal defendants who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer.
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
- public defender
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a lawyer provided by the state to represent a person accused of a crime. Clearly, where there is respect for the human right of a fair trial, there has to be a separation of powers between the public defender and the prosecution – something that is difficult where there may be a similar 'civil service' type of career structure and movement of individuals between divisions. They are well known in the USA and the system is the subject of an experiment in Scotland. It is now provided for in English legislation and the precise system is a matter of consultation. See Criminal Defence Service.
Collins dictionary of law. W. J. Stewart. 2001.
- public defender
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A lawyer appointed by the court and paid by the county, state, or federal government to represent clients who are charged with violations of criminal law and are unable to pay for their own defense.Category: Criminal LawCategory: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
- public defender
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n. An attorney hired by the government for the purpose of defending anyone who is accused of a crime but who is unable to afford to hire an attorney. The right to such a defense is guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.
- public defender
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An attorney appointed by a court or employed by the government to represent indigent defendants in criminal actions.
Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.
- public defender
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I
An attorney appointed by a court or employed by the government to represent indigent defendants in criminal actions.II Government lawyer who provides free legal defense services to a poor person accused of a crime.
Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.
- public defender
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n.an elected or appointed public official (usually of a county), who is an attorney regularly assigned by the courts to defend people accused of crimes who cannot afford a private attorney. In larger counties the public defender has a large case load, numerous deputy public defenders and office staff. In each federal judicial district there is also a federal public defender, and some states have a state public defender to supervise the provision of attorneys to convicted indigents for appeals.
Law dictionary. EdwART. 2013.