accomplice
American Heritage Dictionary:
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ac·com·plice
(ə-kŏm'plĭs) 
n.
An associate in wrongdoing, especially one who aids or abets another in a criminal act, either as a principal or an accessory.
n.
An associate in wrongdoing, especially one who aids or abets another in a criminal act, either as a principal or an accessory.
[Alteration of COMPLICE.]
Fowler's Modern English Usage:
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accomplice, accomplish
The standard pronunciation of both words is now -kum-, not -kom-.
| accompanist, accommodate, accommodation, accessary, accessory | |
| according, account, accountable |
Roget's Thesaurus:
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accomplice
noun
- One who assists a lawbreaker in a wrongful or criminal act: accessory, confederate, conspirator. See crimes, help/harm/harmless.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
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accomplice
n
Definition: helper, especially, in committing a crime
Antonyms: adversary, enemy, opponent
West's Encyclopedia of American Law:
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Accomplice
This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.
One who knowingly, voluntarily, and with common intent unites with the principal offender in the commission of a crime. One who is in some way concerned or associated in commission of crime; partaker of guilt; one who aids or assists, or is an accessory. One who is guilty of complicity in crime charged, either by being present and aiding or abetting in it, or having advised and encouraged it, though absent from place when it was committed, though mere presence, acquiescence, or silence, in the absence of a duty to act, is not enough, no matter how reprehensible it may be, to constitute one an accomplice. One is liable as an accomplice to the crime of another if he or she gave assistance or encouragement or failed to perform a legal duty to prevent it with the intent thereby to promote or facilitate commission of the crime.
An accomplice may assist or encourage the principal offender with the intent to have the crime committed, the same as the chief actor. An accomplice may or may not be present when the crime is actually committed. However, without sharing the criminal intent, one who is merely present when a crime occurs and stands by silently is not an accomplice, no matter how reprehensible his or her inaction.
Some crimes are so defined that certain persons cannot be charged as accomplices even when their conduct significantly aids the chief offender. For example, a businessperson who yields to the extortion demands of a racketeer or a parent who pays ransom to a kidnapper may be unwise, but neither is a principal in the commission of the crimes. Even a victim may unwittingly create a perfect opportunity for the commission of a crime but cannot be considered an accomplice because he or she lacks a criminal intent.
An accomplice may supply money, guns, or supplies. In one case, an accomplice provided his own blood to be poured on selective service files. The driver of the getaway car, a lookout, or a person who entices the victim or distracts possible witnesses is an accomplice.
An accomplice can be convicted even if the person that he or she aids or encourages is not. He or she is usually subject to the same degree of punishment as the principal offender. In the 1982 decision of Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 102 S. Ct. 3368, 73 L. Ed. 2d 1140, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the death penalty could not be constitutionally imposed upon an accomplice to a felony-murder, a crime leading to murder, if he or she had no intention to, or did not, kill the victim. Earl Enmund drove the getaway car from a robbery that resulted in the murder of its victims, an elderly married couple. Although Enmund remained in the car during the robbery and consequent killings and the trial record did not establish that he intended to facilitate or participate in a murder, the trial court sentenced him to death, along with the persons who actually killed the victims, upon his conviction for robbery in the first degree. In overturning the decision, the Supreme Court reasoned that to condemn such a defendant to death violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, which prohibited cruel and unusual punishment in state prosecutions. The death penalty was an excessive punishment in light of the "criminal culpability" of this accomplice.
See: Capital Punishment; Criminal Law; Eighth Amendment; Fourteenth Amendment.
Devil's Dictionary:
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accomplice
A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce
n.
One associated with another in a crime, having guilty knowledge and complicity, as an attorney who defends a criminal, knowing him guilty. This view of the attorney's position in the matter has not hitherto commanded the assent of attorneys, no one having offered them a fee for assenting.
Word Tutor:
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accomplice
IN BRIEF: A person who helps another commit a crime.
Officer Davis asked the thief if he had an accomplice.
LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'accomplice'
- Crimes, Criminals, and Civil Offenders - accomplice: criminal’s active partner in crime
- Criminals - accomplice: criminal’s active partner in crime
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary:
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accomplice
See crossword solutions for the clue Accomplice.
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Accomplice
For other uses, see Accomplice (disambiguation).
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Accessory (legal term). (Discuss) Proposed since November 2009. |
| Criminal law |
|---|
| Part of the common law series |
| Element (criminal law) |
| Scope of criminal liability |
| Inchoate offenses |
| Offence against the person |
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Homicide crimes |
| Crimes against property |
| Crimes against justice |
| Defenses to liability |
| Other common law areas |
| Portals |
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The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2008) |
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 offense. For example, in a bank robbery, the person who points the gun at the teller and asks for the money is guilty of armed robbery. However, anyone else directly involved in the commission of the crime, such as the lookout or the getaway car driver, is an accomplice, even though in the absence of an underlying offense keeping a lookout or driving a car would not be an offense.
An accomplice differs from an accessory in that an accomplice is present at the actual crime, and could be prosecuted even if the main criminal (the principal) is not charged or convicted. An accessory is generally not present at the actual crime, and may be subject to lesser penalties than an accomplice or principal.
An accomplice was often referred to as an abettor. This term is not in active use in the United States, having been replaced by accomplice.
At law, an accomplice has the same degree of guilt as the person he or she is assisting, is subject to prosecution for the same crime, and faces the same criminal penalties. As such, the three accomplices to the bank robbery above can also be found guilty of armed robbery even though only one stole money.
The fairness of the doctrine that the accomplice is as guilty as the primary offender has been subject to much discussion, particularly in cases of capital crimes. On several occasions, accomplices have been prosecuted for felony murder even though the actual person who committed the murder died at the crime scene or otherwise did not face capital punishment.
One of the most notorious cases of this type was the 1952 case in England involving Derek Bentley, a mentally challenged man who was in police custody when his sixteen-year-old companion, Christopher Craig, shot and killed a police constable during a botched break-in (News Report [1]). Craig was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure, since as a juvenile offender he could not be sentenced to death (he was released after serving ten years), but Bentley was hanged. The incident was dramatized in the film Let Him Have It, which is what Bentley allegedly said to Craig during the incident, which can be interpreted either as telling Craig to shoot the policeman, or to give him the gun. The hanging of Bentley led to public outrage and the eventual abolition of capital punishment in the United Kingdom.
Aiding and abetting is a provision in United States criminal law, for situations where it cannot be shown the party personally carried out the criminal offense, but where another person may have carried out the illegal act(s) as an agent of the charged, working together with or under the direction of the charged party, who is an accessory to the crime.
It is derived from the United States Code (U.S.C.), section two of title 18:
- (a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.
- (b) Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal.
Where the term "principal" refers to any actor who is primarily responsible for a criminal offense.
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Contents
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References
- Guam v. Dela Rosa, 644 F.2d 1257, 1260-61 (9th Cir. 1981) (per curiam) defining an accomplice as “one who could have been indicted for the same offense either as an accessory or principal”
Canadian Law
S.21 Criminal Code of Canada
Parties to offence
21. (1) Every one is a party to an offence who
(a) actually commits it;
(b) does or omits to do anything for the purpose of aiding any person to commit it; or
(c) abets any person in committing it.
Common Intention
(2) Where two or more persons form an intention in common to carry out an unlawful purpose and to assist each other therein and any one of them, in carrying out the common purpose, commits an offence, each of them who knew or ought to have known that the commission of the offence would be a probable consequence of carrying out the common purpose is a party to that offence.
Aid
S.21(1)(b) A defendant is a party to an offence where they do or omit to do anything for the purpose of aiding another person (the principal) to commit an offence. Refers to physical acts or omissions.
Abet
S.21(1)(c) Defendant is a party to an offence where they encourage another (the principal) with words or acts, and intend to encourage. R. v. Greyeyes [1997] 2 S.C.R. 825
General
Mere presence at the scene of an offence is not sufficient grounds for liability. More involvement is needed, such as:
- encouragement of the principal
- an act or omission that facilitates the commission of the offence
- an act or omission which tends to prevent or hinder interference with the accomplishment of the offence.
However, presence at the commission of the offence is evidence of aiding or abetting if accompanied by other factors. Dunlop and Sylvester v. The Queen [1979] 2 S.C.R. 881
External links
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Look up accomplice in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Accomplice
Dansk (Danish)
n. - medskyldig, medsammensvoren, medvirkende
Nederlands (Dutch)
medeplichtige
Français (French)
n. - complice
Deutsch (German)
n. - Komplize, Mittäter, Handlanger
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (νομ.) συνεργός, συνένοχος
Português (Portuguese)
n. - cúmplice (m) (f), partícipe (m) (f)
Русский (Russian)
сообщник, соучастник
Español (Spanish)
n. - cómplice
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - medbrottsling
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
帮凶, 共犯, 同谋者
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 幫兇, 共犯, 同謀者
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) شريك
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - שותף לפשע
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Roget's Thesaurus
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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West's Encyclopedia of American Law
West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Accomplice.
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