Also known as: accessories before the fact · accessory before fact
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A participant in a felony at common law who aids, abets, or encourages the commission of the crime but is not present at the scene when the crime occurs.
Anita Ali met with a field operator weeks before the planned tampering and supplied a detailed diagram plus specialized tools. She remained miles away while the operator cut into the pipeline at night. Because her advance assistance enabled the felony without her presence at the scene, she qualifies as an accessory before the fact.
Antonio Alvarado told an associate days earlier that shortcuts on a court filing would go undetected. He stayed away from the office while the associate forged the judge's signature. His prior encouragement of the felony without presence at the act makes him an accessory before the fact.
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Aaron Adams sold goods to a buyer knowing the buyer would transport them across state lines. Adams remained absent from the actual transportation. His contribution of the goods that enabled the interstate felony without presence at the scene establishes accessory-before-the-fact liability.
Anika Anand sent a message directing others to intercept a warning that would have saved the victim's life. She stayed away from the location of the killing. Her pre-crime aid without presence at the homicide renders her an accessory before the fact.
Austin Abbott gave instructions from another jurisdiction that furthered the unlawful scheme. He never entered the state where the overt acts occurred. His remote encouragement of the felony without presence supports accessory-before-the-fact status.
Adam Anderson waited in a car several hundred feet from the victims' home while accomplices committed the robbery and murder. He supplied no aid at the immediate scene of the killings. His role as the planned getaway driver without presence at the homicide makes him an accessory before the fact.
The key distinction is presence at the scene. A principal in the second degree must aid or encourage while actually or constructively present. An accessory before the fact provides the same type of aid but remains absent when the crime occurs.
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At common law an accessory before the fact could not be tried or convicted until the principal had first been convicted. Modern statutes in most jurisdictions have eliminated this procedural requirement.
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Yes. Encouragement or counseling given in advance satisfies the aiding or abetting element even without physical assistance or presence at the scene.
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Yes. Providing a diagram, tools, or detailed instructions in advance constitutes aiding or encouraging the crime when the supplier stays away from the scene.
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…1976), cert. denied, 434 U. S. 878 (1977). Although petitioner could be convicted of second-degree murder only if he were an accessory before the fact rather than a principal, the Florida Supreme Court reasoned: "[T]he only evidence of the degree of his participation is the jury's likely inference that he was the person in the car by…