Also known as: aiders and abettors · aid and abet · aiding and abetting · aided and abetted · accomplice · accessory
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person who assists or facilitates the commission of a crime with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the offense. The assistance may occur before or during the crime and need not involve physical presence at the scene.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Angela Acosta met with Alfred Ashford two days before the planned break-in at a warehouse. She provided the security code and layout details but stayed home on the night of the crime. Angela is liable as an aider and abettor because her pre-crime assistance facilitated the offense without requiring her presence at the scene.
Anita Ali supplied login credentials to Amber Alonzo during an in-person meeting. Anita then joined a video call from another city and directed the timing of the upload. Anita qualifies as an aider and abettor through her purposeful aid even though she was physically absent from the control room.
Alice Atkins learned that police were investigating the warehouse break-in. She immediately shredded shipping manifests and coached the principals on alibis. Alice's knowing assistance after the felony to help the principals avoid prosecution is governed by accessory-after-the-fact principles.
Abigail Alvarez agreed to help set a storage shed on fire and delivered gasoline and matches to the site. She waited nearby but did not light the match herself. Abigail is an aider and abettor because she acted with the purpose of promoting the arson by supplying essential materials.
Alfred Ashford drove the getaway car for a convenience-store robbery knowing a gun would be used. When the clerk was shot during the crime, Alfred shared the required culpability for the resulting death. His complicity in the robbery therefore makes him an aider and abettor of the homicide as well.
Amber Alonzo scouted the target house and gave timing information for an armed burglary. When a resident suffocated during the break-in, the code presumes extreme indifference. Amber's role as an aider and abettor in the burglary therefore supports murder liability for the death.
The aider and abettor must act with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense and must share the criminal intent of the principal. Mere presence or knowledge without purposeful assistance is insufficient.
Yes. An aider and abettor may be convicted on proof of the commission of the offense and of his own complicity even if the principal has not been prosecuted, has been acquitted, or has been convicted of a different offense.
Supporting sources
…1192. Furnishing the means "Whoever furnishes the means for procuring an abortion knowing the purpose intended is guilty as an accomplice. "Art. 1193. Attempt at abortion "If the means used shall fail to produce an abortion, the offender is nevertheless guilty of an attempt to produce abortion, provided it be shown that…
…him of his right to remain silent or of his right to consult with his attorney. Rather, they confronted him with an alleged accomplice who accused him of having perpetrated a murder. When the defendant denied the accusation and said “I didn’t shoot Manuel, you did it,” they handcuffed him and took him to an interrogation…
…were convicted for conspiracy under 18 U. S. C. §371.[^maj-5] Petitioner David Carpenter, Winans’ roommate, was convicted for aiding and abetting. With a minor exception, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed, 791 F. 2d 1024 (1986); we granted certiorari, 479 U. S. 1016 (1986). I In 1981, Winans became a reporter for…
…conduct. Fourth, respondent's participation in the crimes was neither minor nor the result of duress or domination by an accomplice. Finally, respondent's age (26) could not be considered a factor in mitigation, especially when viewed in light of respondent's planning of the crimes and disposition of the proceeds of the…
…chief activity is carried on as a business. 8. Philanthropic or eleemosynary institutions, other than penal institutions. 9.
At common law an accessory before the fact had to be tried after the principal and could not be convicted unless the principal was first found guilty. Modern codes eliminate these procedural barriers and treat accomplices as principals who may be convicted independently.
Supporting sources
No. A defendant can be convicted as an aider and abettor without proof that he participated in each and every element of the offense. Assistance rendered by words, acts, encouragement, support, or presence is sufficient even if it relates to only one phase of the crime.
When causing a particular result is an element of the offense, an accomplice in the conduct is an accomplice in the commission of that offense if he acts with the required culpability toward the result. Under extreme-indifference provisions, participation in enumerated felonies such as robbery or arson supplies the presumption of recklessness.
Supporting sources