Der Richter spricht den Angeklagten frei.

Because den Angeklagten is the direct object of the sentence, so it is in the accusative case.

• Der Richter = the subject, so it is nominative
• den Angeklagten = the person affected by the action, so it is accusative

A quick case contrast:

• der Angeklagte = nominative, the accused as subject
• den Angeklagten = accusative, the accused as object

So in this sentence, the judge is doing the action, and the accused is receiving it.

Because Angeklagte is a weak masculine noun when it refers to a man.

Many masculine nouns that describe people take -n or -en in all cases except the nominative singular.

So you get:

• nominative: der Angeklagte
• accusative: den Angeklagten
• dative: dem Angeklagten
• genitive: des Angeklagten

This pattern is common with words like:

• der Student → den Studenten
• der Mensch → den Menschen
• der Kollege → den Kollegen

Here it is singular.

The article tells you that:

• den Angeklagten = the accused / defendant singular, masculine accusative
• plural would be die Angeklagten = the accused / defendants

So this sentence means one judge acquits one defendant.

Because the verb is really freisprechen, which is a separable verb.

In a normal main clause, separable verbs split apart:

• freisprechen → spricht ... frei

So:

• Der Richter spricht den Angeklagten frei.

This is the same basic verb as:

• infinitive: freisprechen
• past participle: freigesprochen

This is a very common pattern in German:

• aufstehen → Ich stehe um 7 Uhr auf.
• einkaufen → Wir kaufen heute ein.
• freisprechen → Der Richter spricht den Angeklagten frei.

Yes, it is the same verb.

• In a main clause, the separable verb splits:
  Der Richter spricht den Angeklagten frei.
• In some other forms, it stays together:
  ..., dass der Richter den Angeklagten freispricht.

So both forms come from freisprechen.

You can think of it like this:

• dictionary form: freisprechen
• main clause: spricht ... frei
• subordinate clause: freispricht

This is one of those cases where the literal meaning does not match the idiomatic meaning exactly.

The verb freisprechen is a legal term meaning:

• to acquit
• to find not guilty

So although the pieces are frei + sprechen, you should learn freisprechen as one unit of meaning.

A very literal English gloss would be something like:

• The judge speaks the accused free

But natural English is:

• The judge acquits the defendant

It is in the present tense:

• spricht = speaks / is speaking

In context, German present tense can also be used in a more general or narrative way, especially in summaries or formal statements.

Related forms:

• present: Der Richter spricht den Angeklagten frei.
• simple past: Der Richter sprach den Angeklagten frei.
• perfect: Der Richter hat den Angeklagten freigesprochen.

The normal structure is:

Subject + finite verb + object + separable prefix/particle

So:

• Der Richter = subject
• spricht = finite verb
• den Angeklagten = object
• frei = separated part of the verb

German main clauses usually put the finite verb in second position, which is exactly what happens here.

Normally, no. With a separable verb in a main clause, the separated part usually goes to the end.

So the standard sentence is:

• Der Richter spricht den Angeklagten frei.

Something like Der Richter spricht frei den Angeklagten would sound wrong in normal German.

Because frei here is not being used like an attributive adjective before a noun.

Compare:

• der freie Mann = adjective before the noun, so it takes an ending
• Der Mann ist frei = predicate adjective, so no ending
• Der Richter spricht den Angeklagten frei = here frei also has no ending

So frei stays in its basic form.

Because they are nouns, and in German all nouns are capitalized.

• der Richter = the judge
• der Angeklagte = the accused / defendant

Even though Angeklagte comes from a word that originally behaves like an adjective or participle, here it is being used as a noun, so it is capitalized.

A useful way is to learn the verb as a chunk:

• jemanden freisprechen = to acquit someone

Then the sentence becomes easier to build:

• Der Richter spricht den Angeklagten frei.

So instead of thinking word by word, think:

• subject: Der Richter
• verb chunk: spricht ... frei
• object: den Angeklagten

That will help you recognize other separable verbs more easily too.