The phrase "first defendant" refers to the person being accused or charged with a crime in a legal case. They are typically the main person being held responsible for an alleged wrongdoing. Full definition
«Counts 4 and 5 constitute a gross abuse of court processes as similar charges on the same offence of kidnapping had earlier been filed by the prosecution against the same first defendant in charge numbers LD / 5962C / 2017 and LD / 5970C / 2017,» Ogungbeje said. (nigeriapoliticsonline.com)
He was employed by first defendant BIH, a UK based company, with choice of court and governing law made for English courts cq English law. (gavclaw.com)
It is the first defendant to settle and agreed to help the plaintiffs with their case against the remaining defendants, which are American Airlines Group (aal), Delta Air Lines (dal) and United Continental Holdings (ual). (fortune.com)