public defender

noun

1. a lawyer appointed or elected by a city or county as a full-time, official defender to represent indigents in criminal cases at public expense.

public defender

noun

1. (in the US) a lawyer engaged at public expense to represent indigent defendants

public defender

1. An attorney who is appointed and paid by a court to defend poor persons who cannot afford a lawyer.

Word History and Origins

Origin of public defender¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

The cop with his arm around the man’s neck, later identified by the victim’s public defender as Officer David Afanador, releases the man after onlookers complain about the chokehold and a fellow officer taps the cop to release his hold.

From ProPublica

Brock did not respond to a request for comment, and his public defender could not immediately be reached.

From Washington Post

Among the proposed reforms are expanded staffing to increase oversight and the creation of a pilot public defender office in Kennebec County.

From ProPublica

Maine is the only state in the country with no public defenders.

From ProPublica

In Florida, there’s a $100 fee for using a public defender, a $50 fee for applying to use a public defender — even a $100 fee to cover the cost of prosecution — all tacked on at the end of the sentence.

From ProPublica

And, as any good public defender would, Wolf says the allegations are absurd.

From The Daily Beast

He talked to his family using the cell phone of his public defender, David Patton, says the family contact.

From The Daily Beast

Suddenly the public defender told me I could leave, as she pulled the young man aside.

From The Daily Beast

The American Bar Association recommends that a public defender not take on more than 150 felony cases each year.

From The Daily Beast

Between 2011 and earlier this year, Miami public defender Josh Cooley represented one of two brothers who are sovereigns.

From The Daily Beast

Revering the eloquence and influence of Petrarch, he importuned him to be his public defender.

From Project Gutenberg