Crossword Genius

Spare the criminal a list of his crimes (3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rap sheet

'a list of his crimes' is the definition.
(a rap sheet is a list of charges)

'spare the criminal' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates anagramming the letters.
'spare'+'the'='sparethe'
'sparethe' anagrammed gives 'RAP SHEET'.

(Other definitions for rap sheet that I've seen before include "Where to find previous" , "Criminal record, colloquially" , "'Written record of charges (3,5)'" , "record of arrests" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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