codefendant
noun
co·de·fen·dant
ˌkō-di-ˈfen-dənt 
in legal circles often -ˌdant
variants
or co-defendant
plural codefendants or co-defendants
: a defendant in the same lawsuit or criminal prosecution as another defendant or group of defendants : a joint defendant
… the defendant argued that it was plain error for the trial court to have permitted the prosecution to treat his co-defendant as hostile …—
State v. Saenz, 370 P.3d 1278 (2016)
State v. Saenz, 370 P.3d 1278 (2016)Examples of codefendant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Cannon had thrown out the prosecution of Trump and two codefendants, longtime aides Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, on the ground that Smith had been appointed in an unconstitutional manner.
—Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 7 Jan. 2025
Attorney Carmen Hernandez represented a Tarrio codefendant who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy.
—Robert Legare, CBS News, 6 Jan. 2025
Former President Donald Trump and several codefendants are trying to get a Georgia District Attorney and her whole office thrown off of Trump's Georgia election racketeering case.
—Joyce Orlando, The Tennessean, 16 Feb. 2024
His brother, who was named Navalny’s codefendant in a sham embezzlement case, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison, and several of Navalny’s coworkers have been threatened or forced to flee Russia.
—Maria Lipman, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2016
See all Example Sentences for codefendant 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 7 Jan. 2025
Attorney Carmen Hernandez represented a Tarrio codefendant who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy.
—Robert Legare, CBS News, 6 Jan. 2025
Former President Donald Trump and several codefendants are trying to get a Georgia District Attorney and her whole office thrown off of Trump's Georgia election racketeering case.
—Joyce Orlando, The Tennessean, 16 Feb. 2024
His brother, who was named Navalny’s codefendant in a sham embezzlement case, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison, and several of Navalny’s coworkers have been threatened or forced to flee Russia.
—Maria Lipman, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2016
See all Example Sentences for codefendant
Dictionary Entries Near codefendant
Cite this Entry
“Codefendant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/codefendant. Accessed 10 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share