The Company You Keep: Accessory to a Crime

 


Mom and Dad told you the company you keep matters. But you didn't believe them and you got yourself in trouble. It happened so fast, even innocently yet here you find yourself being questioned downtown as an accessory to a crime. How did you get here?

 

ACCESSORY TO A CRIME

 

Criminal law throws us plenty of curveballs, especially if we form our opinions based on what we see in procedural dramas such as CSI and Law and Order that attempt to give us insight into the American criminal justice system. There is one crime that leaves us utterly perplexed as to its meaning, and no Hollywood production can enlighten us enough to make sense of the criminal charge.

 

The criminal charge is called “accessory to a crime.”



Overview of Accessory to a Crime

 

Diving into the vast amount of Internet resources does not offer a precise meaning of the criminal charge “Accessory to a crime.” What we’ll get are several explanations that when melded together, give us the following legal definition of the criminal charge:

 

Accessory to a crime happens when a suspect “knowingly and voluntarily” participates in committing a crime. The criminal charge applies to any phase of the crime from the planning stage, like developing the timeline for a home invasion to driving the getaway vehicle after a bank robbery.

For an “accessory to a crime” criminal charge, the suspect does not have to be present when the crime is taking place.



Accomplice Versus Accessory

 

The previous sentence is an essential legal component when defining the criminal charge of accessory to a crime. As opposed to an accessory, an accomplice to a crime actively helps another person commit a crime, whether the crime is shoplifting at a convenience store or setting fire to a government building.

 

Because an accomplice intentionally helps another criminal commit the crime, he or she shares the same legal liability and criminal punishment. Because of the active participation of an accomplice, the criminal charges are typically more severe than the criminal charges faced by an accessory.



Digging Deeper into What Constitutes an Accessory

 

Let’s go back to the bank robbery scenario to define the primary difference between an accomplice and an accessory. While an accomplice stands inside the bank to rob it, an accessory can plan the heist and/or sit outside, waiting for the bank robber to jump into the car and flee the scene. This means an accessory’s role is either before or after events of the commission of a crime. It may also be both before and after.



Accessory before a Crime

An accessory before a crime typically aids, abets, assists, incites, and/or encourages the principal criminal. He or she can be the person who plans the logistics of a crime, as well as pays a criminal a set amount of money to carry out a crime. Read more…

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