Was this a deliberate defoliation? Your plants look like what I end up with around week 4 or 5 in the flower room, and it's not deliberate. I defoliate before moving from veg to flower on the lower and inside leaves. But with the transition to flower, the leaves start to turn yellow with brown spots, and will fall off - though once they reach a point, I'll remove them. I have not been able to figure out why I loose so many leaves but I still get a decent harvest.