From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgive somebody the benefit of the doubtgive somebody the benefit of the doubtBELIEVEto accept what someone tells you, even though you think they may be wrong or lying but you cannot be sure The referee gave him the benefit of the doubt. → benefit
Examples from the Corpus
give somebody the benefit of the doubt• She claimed she wasn't trying to commit suicide, and doctors gave her the benefit of the doubt.• Something didn't seem quite right, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. 