Also known as: first-degree principal · principal in the first degree
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A participant in a felony at common law who personally commits the act or omission that constitutes the criminal offense.
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Nurse Lopez altered a sedated patient's chart, drew a lethal overdose of medication, and deliberately injected it into the patient, who died. Lopez performed every physical step that produced the death. Because she personally executed the homicidal act, Lopez qualifies as a principal in the first degree.
Priya used her security badge to enter the data center, logged into the live servers, and personally installed malicious code designed to wipe all customer data. Her direct physical interaction with the servers accomplished the offense. Priya therefore stands as a principal in the first degree even though a coworker waited outside as a getaway driver.
Drew, a mechanic, removed catalytic converters from parked customer cars to sell them as scrap. He alone performed the physical takings that completed each theft. Drew therefore meets the definition of a principal in the first degree under the common law classification of parties.
A principal in the first degree is the person who personally commits the criminal act. A principal in the second degree aids or encourages that person while present at the scene.
Supporting sources
No. The person who personally performs the prohibited act remains a principal in the first degree regardless of assistance from others at the scene.
Supporting sources
Personal commission of the criminal act qualifies a person as a principal in the first degree. Planning or encouraging the crime without being present at its commission makes a person an accessory before the fact.
Supporting sources
…Md. Code Ann., Art. 27, §§ 410, 412(b), 413(d)(10), 413(e)(1) (1982) (except in cases of murder for hire, only principal in the first degree subject to the death penalty). In addition, two jurisdictions already accounted for in n. 7, supra , also preclude the death penalty where the defendant did not commit the murder. Ill.…