An accessory is a person who assists in or conceals a crime, but does not actually participate in the commission of the crime. In this an accessory is different from an accomplice, who normally is present at the crime and participates in some way. An accessory must generally have knowledge that a crime is being, or will be committed. A person with such knowledge may become an accessory by helping the criminal in some way, or simply by failing to report the crime to proper authority. The assistance to the criminal may be of any type, including emotional or financial assistance as well as physical assistance or concealment. A person who incites another to a crime may also be considered an accessory if the crime is eventually committed. At law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offence. ...

A person who learned of the crime and gave some form of assistance before the crime is committed is known as an accessory-before-the-fact. A person who learns of the crime after it is committed and helps the criminal to conceal it, or aids the criminal in escaping, or simply fails to report the crime, is know as an accessory-after-the-fact. A person who does both is sometimes referred to as an accessory-before-and-after-the-fact, but this usage is less common.

The treatment of accessories varies in different jurisdictions, and has varied at different periods of history. In some times and places accessories have been subject to lesser penalties than principals (the persons who actually commit the crime). In others accessories are considered the same as principals in theory, although in a particular case an accessory may be treated less severely than a principal. In some times and places accessories before the fact have been treated differently from accessories after the fact. Common law traditionally considers an accessory just as guilty as the principal(s) in a crime, and subject to the same penalties. Separate and lesser punishments exist by statute in many jurisdictions. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

A person cannot be charged as an accessory to a crime unless the crime has actually taken place. An accessory before the fact may also be considered as a conspirator. A conspirator must have been involved in planning the crime, not merely aware of the plan to commit it. On the other hand, a charge of conspiracy can be made even if the actual crime is never committed, so long as the plan has been made, and at least one overt act towards the crime has been committed by at least one of the conspirators. Thus an accessory before the fact will often, but not always, also be a conspirator. Alternate uses: See Conspiracy (disambiguation) Conspiracy, in common usage, is the act of working in secret to obtain some goal, usually understood with negative connotations. ...

To be convicted of an accessory charge, the accused must generally be proved to have had actual knowledge that a crime was going to be, or had been, committed. Furthermore, there must be proof that the accessory knew that his or her action, or inaction, was helping the criminals commit the crime, or evade detection, or escape. A person who unknowingly houses a person who has just committed a crime, for instance, may not be charged with an accessory offense because they did not have knowledge of the crime.

In many jurisdictions a person may not be charged as an accessory to a crime committed by his or her spouse. This is related to the traditional privilege not to testify against an accused spouse, and the older idea that a wife was completely subject to the orders of a husband, whether lawful or illegal.

In most jurisdictions an accessory cannot be tried before the principal is convicted, unless the accessory and principal are tried together, or unless the accessory consents to being tried first.

Usage

The concept of accessory is part of English common law, and been inherited by those countries with a more or less Anglo-American legal system. The concept is less used in countries with completely different legal traditions. The specific terms accessory-before-the-fact and accessory-after-the-fact are more commonly used in England and the United Kingdom than in the United States and are more common in historical than in current usage. Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

History

The English legal authority William Blackstone, in his famous Commentaries, defined an accessory as "II. AN accessory is he who is not the chief actor in the offense, nor present at its performance, but is someway concerned therein, either before or after the fact committed." (book 4 chapter 3). He goes on to define an accessory-before-the-fact in these words: "As to the second point, who may be an accessory before the fact; Sir Matthew Hale12 defines him to be one, who being absent at the time of the crime committed, does yet procure, counsel, or command another to commit a crime. Herein absence is necessary to make him an accessory; for such procusence is necessary to make him an accessory; for if such procurer, or the like, be present, he is guilty of the crime as principal." and an accessory-after-the-fact as follows: "AN accessory after the fact may be, where a person, knowing a felony to have been committed, recieves, relieves, comforts, or assists the felon.17 Therefore, to make an accessory ex post facto, it is in the first place requisite that he knows of the felony committed.18 In the next place, he must receive, relieve, comfort, or assist him. And, generally, any assistance whatever given to a felon, to hinder his being apprehended, tried, or suffering punishment, makes the assistor an accessory. As furnishing him with a horse to escape his pursuers, money or victuals to support him, a house or other shelter to conceal him, or open force and violence to rescue or protect him." Sir William Blackstone, (July 10, 1723 - February 14, 1780) was an English jurist and professor who produced the historical treatise on the common law called Commentaries on the Laws of England, first published in four volumes over 1765–1769. ... The Commentaries on the Laws of England is an influential 18th century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765-1769. ...

External links

• Lawyer Source (http://www.criminal-law-lawyer-source.com/terms/accessory.html)
• All Refer reference (http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/A/accessor.html)
• Free distionary (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/accessory)
• Steinberg on Derivative Liability (http://www.hmichaelsteinberg.com/accessoryliability.htm)
• New Zealand Net Law (http://www.netlaw.co.nz/crime.cfm?PageID=320)
• Blackstone's Commentaries (http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/blackstone/bla-403.htm)
• New South wales legal aid article (http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Ev9TBTe1bBEJ:www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/data/portal/00000005/public/25154001093935713718.doc+%22Accessory+Before+the+fact%22&hl=en)
• West Virginia (US) model jury instructions (http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/jury/crim/principals.htm)
• Florida (US) statutes (http://www.flsenate.gov/statutes/index.cfm?App_Mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0777/Sec03.htm&StatuteYear=2004)