A more thorough explanation:

Definition: John-a-Stiles is a made-up name used to refer to an unknown person involved in a legal case, particularly the second party. The name is derived from "John who dwells at the stile". It is abbreviated as J.S. and can also be spelled as John-a-Styles.

• The plaintiff filed a lawsuit against John-a-Stiles, the unknown owner of the property next door.
• The court document referred to the defendant as John-a-Stiles since their real identity was not known.

These examples illustrate how John-a-Stiles is used as a placeholder name for an unknown party in a legal proceeding. It is used when the real name of the person is not known or cannot be identified. The name is not used in modern legal proceedings but is still found in historical documents.