The ‘accused’ is the man or woman charged with a crime. It’s not the defendant. Something I read recently made me realize this distinction. I don’t know etymology of the word ‘defendant’ or why it’s something to be avoided, but I do know the ‘accused’ seems like the more appropriate label.
And the old movie The Accused makes it clear that the word ‘accused’ formerly was more common.
New to the site?
- Review these slides
- Read this,
- review this diagram of US vs USofA,
- read these six PDFs,
- watch Richard McDonald's seminar intro
- learn to speak like a simple man
- If this site ever goes down, the archive is on the wayback machine.
