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accomplice, accessory, and abettor, in law, persons who become equally guilty in the crime of another by knowingly and voluntarily aiding the other to commit the offense. An accomplice is either an accessory or an abettor. The accessory aids a criminal prior to his crime, whereas the abettor aids him during the act itself.
An abettor is one who is present actually or constructively at the commission of a crime and incites, encourages, or assists the offender in his act. One may assist the offender by failing to try to prevent the offense, when a duty to act is imposed by law.
An accessory is one who is not present during the commission of the offense but who assists, procures, encourages, or counsels the offender prior to the crime. The minimum complicity that is required of an accessory varies in each jurisdiction. Usually, the two parties must do more than simply agree or conspire. The accessory must perform an act of assistance. But an act must be evidence that he intended to facilitate the crime. Thus, the owner of a sporting-goods store will not be guilty of murder if he sells a rifle to one who subsequently commits murder with it.
The terms accessory and abettor derive from the English common law, which distinguished between accomplices and principals in assessing guilt for crime. Modern statutes abolish these differences, consider all accomplices as principals, and punish all equally. It is no longer necessary to prove which kind of an accomplice a person is or to find the principal guilty before the accomplice can be convicted. Once a crime has been committed and a party is shown to have contributed to its commission, he may be punished as a princtpal.
The statutes continue to recognize a separate offense—that of being an “accessory after the fact.” Such an offender is one who harbours, protects, or assists a person who has already committed an offense or is charged with committing an offense. Usually the offense must be a felony. Punishment for an accessory after the fact is universally less than that for the principal offender, except in cases of sedition or treason.
