Also known as: accessorial · accessoryship · accessory liability
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
3 senses
An individual who aids, abets, or encourages the commission of a felony but does not remain present at the scene when the crime occurs.
An individual who aids, abets, or encourages the commission of a felony but does not remain present at the scene when the crime occurs.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
An individual who, after learning of the completed felony, knowingly assists the principal to avoid arrest, prosecution, or conviction.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A subordinate item, interest, or use that is customarily incident to a principal obligation, security instrument, or land use and travels with it unless the parties agree otherwise.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
An individual who, after learning of the completed felony, knowingly assists the principal to avoid arrest, prosecution, or conviction.
A subordinate item, interest, or use that is customarily incident to a principal obligation, security instrument, or land use and travels with it unless the parties agree otherwise.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Alexis Archer met with a colleague at a tavern and supplied detailed instructions plus sample narratives for filing false insurance claims using real policy numbers. She then retired and moved away before the colleague submitted the claims. Because Alexis supplied the encouragement and blueprint days earlier while remaining absent from the actual filings, she qualifies as an accessory before the fact under common law.
Charles Carter mailed a detailed floor plan and alarm bypass instructions to a friend who later burglarized a warehouse. Because Charles supplied the encouragement and means while remaining absent from the scene, he is an accessory before the fact.
An accessory before the fact aids or encourages the crime but is not present at the scene. A principal in the second degree must both aid and be present, actually or constructively, when the crime occurs.
Supporting sources
Yes. Providing material assistance such as diagrams or tools that enable the felony satisfies the aiding or encouraging element even if the supplier remains absent from the scene.
Supporting sources
Angela Acosta learned that her friend had stolen tools from a construction site. After the theft, Angela arranged resale of the tools and concealed the paperwork to prevent investigators from tracing the items. Because Angela acted with knowledge of the completed felony and provided assistance aimed at helping the thief avoid detection, she is an accessory after the fact.
After learning her brother had committed arson, Barbara Baker drove him across state lines and helped him obtain false identification. Because Barbara knowingly provided aid to help the principal avoid detection and prosecution, she is liable as an accessory after the fact.
At common law a court could not convict an accessory unless the principal had already been convicted, though a joint trial permitted the jury to convict both if it first found the principal guilty.
Supporting sources
Alice Atkins obtained a zoning permit for a single-family home in a residential district. She later added a detached garage for personal vehicle storage. The garage qualified as an accessory use because it was customarily incident to the principal residential use and therefore permitted under the ordinance without separate approval.
When Dana Dalton sold a promissory note secured by a recorded mortgage on Blackacre, the buyer automatically received the mortgage as well. Because the mortgage is accessory to the underlying obligation, it transferred with the debt absent any contrary agreement.
No. A mortgage is accessory to the debt it secures. When the obligation is declared void, the mortgage is extinguished and cannot be foreclosed.
Supporting sources
…uses enumerated in the preceding classes, U-2 and U-1; and so on. In addition to the enumerated uses, the ordinance provides for accessory uses, that is, for uses customarily incident to the principal use, such as private garages. Many regulations are provided in respect of such accessory uses. The height districts are…