Das Amtsgericht spricht den Angeklagten frei.

Because Gericht is a neuter noun: das Gericht.

Amtsgericht is a compound noun made from Amt + Gericht, and in German compounds, the last part decides the gender. Since Gericht is neuter, Amtsgericht is also neuter:

• das Gericht = the court
• das Amtsgericht = the local/district court

So das Amtsgericht is the correct form.

Amtsgericht is a specific kind of court in Germany. It usually refers to a local court or lower-level court.

A useful way to think about it:

• Gericht = court
• Amtsgericht = local court / district court / magistrates’ court, depending on context

You usually do not translate it word-for-word as office court. It is the name of a legal institution.

Because German main clauses normally follow the verb-second rule (V2). That means the finite verb comes in the second slot.

In this sentence:

• Das Amtsgericht = first element
• spricht = finite verb in second position
• den Angeklagten frei = the rest

So:

• Das Amtsgericht spricht den Angeklagten frei.

This is standard German word order for a main clause.

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

The court is doing the action, so das Amtsgericht is the subject.
The person being acquitted is receiving the action, so der Angeklagte becomes den Angeklagten in the accusative.

Compare:

• der Angeklagte = the defendant / accused person (nominative)
• den Angeklagten = the defendant / accused person (accusative)

Because Angeklagte belongs to a group of nouns often called weak nouns.

Many masculine nouns in this group add -n or -en in most cases except the nominative singular. So you get:

• der Angeklagte = nominative singular
• den Angeklagten = accusative singular
• dem Angeklagten = dative singular
• des Angeklagten = genitive singular

So the -en ending here is completely normal for this noun type.

Historically, it comes from an adjective/participle, but here it is being used as a noun. This is very common in German.

So:

• angeklagt = accused
• der Angeklagte = the accused man / the defendant

This is called a nominalized adjective/participle. That is why it behaves a bit differently and takes adjective-like endings.

You will see many words like this in German:

• der Deutsche = the German man
• der Kranke = the sick person
• der Angeklagte = the accused person / defendant

Yes. freisprechen is a separable verb.

Its basic form is:

• freisprechen = to acquit

In a normal main clause, the verb splits:

• spricht goes to the usual verb position
• frei goes to the end

So:

• infinitive: freisprechen
• main clause: Das Amtsgericht spricht den Angeklagten frei.

This is the same pattern you see with many other separable verbs:

• ankommen → Er kommt an.
• aufstehen → Sie steht auf.

Freisprechen takes an accusative object: you acquit someone.

Pattern:

• jemanden freisprechen = to acquit someone

So in the sentence:

• den Angeklagten is accusative

You can think of it like this:

• Who is being acquitted? → den Angeklagten

Because frei is not being used like an attributive adjective before a noun. It is part of the verb expression freisprechen.

Compare:

• der freie Mann = the free man
  Here freie is an adjective before a noun, so it takes an ending.

But in:

• jemanden freisprechen
• Das Gericht spricht ihn frei.

frei is functioning as part of the verbal idea, so it does not take adjective endings.

Not in a normal main clause.

Because freisprechen is separable, standard main-clause word order is:

• Das Amtsgericht spricht den Angeklagten frei.

You would keep it together only in places where separable verbs stay unsplit, such as the infinitive or some subordinate clauses:

• Das Gericht will den Angeklagten freisprechen.
• ..., weil das Amtsgericht den Angeklagten freispricht.

So in a main clause, spricht ... frei is the correct pattern.

Yes, as long as the finite verb stays in second position in a main clause.

For example, you could say:

• Den Angeklagten spricht das Amtsgericht frei.

This is grammatically correct, because den Angeklagten is clearly accusative, so you still know he is the object, not the subject.

However, the original sentence is more neutral and more natural in many contexts:

• Das Amtsgericht spricht den Angeklagten frei.

German often uses the present tense where English might also use the present, especially in:

• news-style reporting
• summaries
• statements of what happens in a case

So:

• Das Amtsgericht spricht den Angeklagten frei.

can be a normal way to report the event, especially in headlines, summaries, or legal-style narration.

If you wanted a past form, you could say:

• Das Amtsgericht sprach den Angeklagten frei. = The court acquitted the defendant.
• Das Amtsgericht hat den Angeklagten freigesprochen. = The court has acquitted / acquitted the defendant.

A few key forms are very useful:

• infinitive: freisprechen
• present: er/sie/es spricht frei
• simple past: sprach frei
• past participle: freigesprochen

Examples:

• Das Gericht spricht ihn frei.
• Das Gericht sprach ihn frei.
• Das Gericht hat ihn freigesprochen.

Notice that the past participle keeps the separable prefix:

• frei
  • gesprochen → freigesprochen

In this sentence, yes, it refers to a male defendant. But German has corresponding forms for other genders and for plural.

Examples:

• der Angeklagte = the male defendant
• die Angeklagte = the female defendant
• die Angeklagten = the defendants

So the exact form depends on who is being referred to.