Also known as: aids · aided · aiding · aid and abet
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
3 senses
Assistance or support provided to another in the performance of an act. The assistance may consist of physical presence combined with encouragement or material contribution that advances the act.
Support supplied through an implied promise arising from the circumstances of a transaction. The implied promise receives the same treatment as an express promise when allocating burdens after a transfer of interest.
A payment or subsidy granted by a tenant to a lord or by subjects to the crown for an extraordinary purpose.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Assistance or support provided to another in the performance of an act. The assistance may consist of physical presence combined with encouragement or material contribution that advances the act.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Support supplied through an implied promise arising from the circumstances of a transaction. The implied promise receives the same treatment as an express promise when allocating burdens after a transfer of interest.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A payment or subsidy granted by a tenant to a lord or by subjects to the crown for an extraordinary purpose.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Angela Acosta stood outside the bank while Adam Anderson entered and took money at gunpoint. She shouted encouragement to hurry and watched for police. Because she was present and aided the robbery, she is treated as a principal in the second degree.
Alfred Ashford agreed to provide bolt cutters to Audrey Ashton so she could break into a warehouse. He handed her the tools and waited nearby while she cut the lock. His purposeful aid in committing the burglary makes him an accomplice under the statute.
Amelia Amari had a duty to release Austin Abbott from a storage room. She intentionally provided no key or means of escape despite his request. Her purposeful withholding of required aid supports liability for false imprisonment.
Ashford Manufacturing supplied components under a contract that aided a government environmental initiative. The purposeful material contribution advanced the unlawful objective of concealing emissions violations. That aid renders the supplier an accomplice.
Avalon Pharmaceuticals supplied cash and a map to an employee who later set fire to a competitor's warehouse. The company never appeared at the scene. Its remote aid and encouragement make it an accessory before the fact.
A principal in the second degree must be present at the scene and aid or encourage the crime. An accessory before the fact aids or encourages but is not present when the crime occurs.
Supporting sources
No. The supplier must act with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the offense. Purposeful aid in planning or committing the crime satisfies the statute.
Supporting sources
Liability arises when the actor has a duty to release the confined person or to provide a means of escape and intentionally refuses to do so.
Supporting sources
Astra Aerospace leased a building from Aurora Biotech. The lease contained no express promise to repair the roof, yet the surrounding circumstances showed both parties expected the landlord to keep the roof watertight. That implied promise binds the landlord after the property is transferred.
…become blurred. Here those doubts are removed by reason of a criminal conviction for serving married couples in violation of an aiding-and-abetting statute. Certainly the accessory should have standing to assert that the offense which he is charged with assisting is not, or cannot constitutionally be, a crime. This case…