In California, you become an accessory to a crime when you help someone before, during, or after they commit a crime. That means you are involved in a crime but did not commit the primary offense. The difference is subtle, but the offense attracts severe consequences, especially if the primary offense is severe.
If you face charges, you should know the law provisions to protect your rights and build a solid defense. You can hire a competent criminal lawyer to help you understand what it means to be an accessory, the distinction between before and after the fact, and possible penalties.
Overview Of Being An Accessory To A Crime
In California, being charged as an accessory to a crime means that you were a party to a crime but not the person who committed the crime. An accessory knowingly assists a perpetrator of a crime before or after it, even though they did not participate directly in it. You may have helped support, covered up the crime, or helped the offender get away with it.
Per California Penal Code 32, you are responsible for your part in the unlawful activity, whether you were involved before or after the crime. When the court deems you an accessory, it considers your relationship to the offense and if you willfully assisted the principal offender.
For the prosecution to secure your conviction, they must prove your intent. They must prove they knew about the criminal act and deliberately helped the offender avoid the consequences. However, not all acts of assistance are accessories — for example, more than being at the crime scene or hearing about it afterward is required. The law requires the prosecutor to demonstrate that you had clear and intentional efforts to obstruct justice for the accessory charge to stick.
Accessories After The Offense/ Fact
Under California PC 32, an accessory after the fact helps a perpetrator after committing a felony but did not participate in the crime. As an accessory, you knowingly and willfully assist a lawbreaker in evading arrest, prosecution, or punishment after committing a felony. Other acts considered to help a perpetrator are hiding the offender, destroying evidence, or even giving a false alibi to try to obstruct justice.
The prosecutor can only secure your conviction after demonstrating several vital elements, including:
- Someone committed a felony
- Confirming the offender’s identity
- You knowingly assisted the perpetrator in the commission of the felony
The law does not require that you be at the crime scene or even involved in the crime itself for it to apply. It is all about what happened after the fact and whether your actions helped the offender avoid justice.
Examples of acts that make you an accessory after the fact per PC 32 provisions are:
- You lie to the police to make up a false alibi for the offender, knowing that they committed the crime
- Destroying or hiding evidence related to the crime, such as weapons or stolen goods, to help the offender obstruct the investigation.
- Helping someone after they commit robbery to dispose of the stolen goods
- Allowing a person who committed a felony to hide in your home or to a safe place to elude capture
- Helping the offender flee the area or avoid law enforcement after the crime by giving them money
- Driving a felon to flee the scene of the crime to another location, even across state lines
Accessories Before the Fact Or During The Offense
An accessory before the fact aids or encourages the commission of a crime but does not participate in the offense. The law treats people who plan, prepare for, or carry out a crime as seriously as the person who commits the crime.
An accessory before the fact is often someone who helps commit the crime behind the scenes by providing resources, information, or instructions on how to commit the crime. You are equally responsible, whether you give advice, help get the tools for the crime, or even stand as a lookout during the crime. Even the legal system does not see a difference between the person pulling the trigger and the person who supplied the gun, knowing it would be used in the commission of a crime.
Your state of mind and actions determine your role as an accessory before the fact. You must have known about the crime and helped it succeed with intent. Mere presence or knowledge of the crime without active participation cannot result in an accessory charge.
Below are examples of acts that make you an accessory before the fact:
- Supplying weapons, vehicles, or other required tools for the offense commission
- Helping to strategize or coordinate the crime, such as advising on the best way to commit the crime or identifying the target
- sharing of knowledge that is vital to the crime, such as security weaknesses or schedules to help execute the crime
- Assisting the offender to escape after committing the crime by setting up transportation or safe houses
- Hiring or paying people to do illegal things for you
The Difference Between An Accessory And An Accomplice
An accessory and an accomplice are people involved in a crime, but they differ in how the individual plays a role, what they do, and when they do it.
As explained above, an accessory helps the person commit the crime before or after the crime is committed. As an accessory, you are not present during the offense's commission, so your involvement is indirect. You may help plan the crime, provide the criminal with the correct tools, or hide evidence after a felony commission.
By contrast, an accomplice is directly involved in the crime. Accomplices are hands-on participants in the illegal act and work alongside the principal offender. Under California PC 31, a person who aided and abetted a crime is guilty of the crime as if he had committed it himself. What is definite is that they are accomplices because they are present at the crime scene and directly participate.
Accessory to a Crime vs “Aiding And Abetting” California PC 31
As discussed above, accessory before the fact aids or encourages the commission of a crime but does not participate in the offense. This is often referred to under Penal Code 31 as "aiding and abetting." The law treats people who plan, prepare for, or carry out a crime as seriously as the person who commits the crime. An accessory before the fact is often someone who helps commit the crime behind the scenes by providing things like resources, information, or even instructions on committing the crime.
You can be charged as an accessory before the fact if you encourage or help to commit a crime before it happens or while it takes place. Aiding and abetting under California PC 31 includes any help providing for a crime with knowledge and intent. You are equally responsible whether you give advice, help get the tools for the crime, or even stand as a lookout during the crime. Because the law considers them so important to the success of the crime, it casts a wide net over those who enable criminal behavior.
Your state of mind and actions determine your role as an accessory before the fact. You must have known about the crime and helped it succeed with intent.
Possible Penalties Under California Law
In California, being charged as an accessory to a crime carries significant legal repercussions. Depending on the circumstances of your involvement, you could face varying degrees of penalties.
Penalties for Violating Penal Code 32
Accessory after the fact is also a "wobbler" offense. That means you could face a felony or misdemeanor charge upon arrest. The prosecution considers various factors before deciding what charges to prefer, such as your extent of aiding the principal offender and prior criminal record.
You are charged with a misdemeanor when your involvement was minor or the underlying offense is not severe. For example, if you provide temporary shelter to a felon without deliberately working to help them evade law enforcement for an extended period, the prosecution could bring a misdemeanor charge against you.
A felony conviction occurs whenever your involvement in the crime is more deliberate or when the underlying crime is especially heinous, like murder or armed robbery.
If found guilty, you face the following penalties:
- Misdemeanor accessory after the fact:
- A jail term not exceeding one year
- A fine not exceeding $5,000
- Felony accessory after the fact:
- A prison term not exceeding three years
- A fine not exceeding $5,000
Penalties For Accessory Before The Fact
The penalty for being an accessory before the fact depends on what crime was committed. In California, an accessory before the fact is usually held to the same punishments as the person who committed the crime. For example, if you were involved in a robbery planning, you would be charged with the same offenses as the individuals who did the robbery.
Legal Defenses
Facing charges as an accessory to a crime can be overwhelming, but you have several viable legal defenses. Your attorney's strategy will depend on the specifics of your case, but understanding the potential defenses can help you better prepare for your defense.
Possible legal defenses include:
You Were A Bystander Who Did Not Help In The Crime
You can argue that you did not aid in committing the crime because you were a simple bystander. California PC 32 asserts that your presence at the scene does not make you an accessory. The prosecutor must prove you took affirmative steps to aid the principal offender. This means that you are not automatically guilty if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw the events unfold without you intervening or supporting the crime.
For example, if you were outside a store and witnessed a theft and did nothing to help the thief, the prosecution can not argue that you were an accessory merely by existing. Your defense attorney can say that your inaction shows a lack of intent to participate in the crime and that you are an innocent bystander.
You Did Not Intend To Help In The Criminal Offense
The court cannot convict you before the prosecution can prove you intended to assist the principal offender, making you an accessory to a crime.
What if you had unknowingly helped someone in the commission of a crime? You may have lent your friend your car and did not know they would use it for illegal activities. And if your actions were innocent and you honestly did not realize that your help would be used for a crime, that is when your lack of intent is your strongest defense. You did not intend to assist anyone in breaking the law; you were helping your friend.
Your attorney could argue that an accessory charge is about making a conscious choice to help, something you did not do. If you acted without knowing your actions would contribute to a crime, the prosecution’s case weakens significantly. If you were unaware of any criminal intent, your defense stands on solid ground, reinforcing your position as an unwitting participant rather than a willing accomplice.
You Did Not Know That A Crime Had Occurred Or Was About To Occur
Lack of knowledge about the crime is another powerful defense against those accessory charges. Under California law, an accessory is not just an action but also a knowing awareness that a crime is being or about to be committed. To be classified as an accessory, you cannot be said to have known that a criminal act was in progress or was about to occur.
You are at a party, and a reveler commits theft without warning. If you did not know about the crime as it was happening, the court cannot find you guilty of breaking any laws. The law knows that you cannot aid or abet a crime unless you have the requisite knowledge. If, on the other hand, you show that you were unaware of what was happening at the time, then your defense becomes much stronger.
In your defense attorney's arguments, if you did not know the crime, it is ignorance of the crime and negates any claim you intended to help with. Without this knowledge, the prosecution has no foundation upon which to stand. If you did not know about the criminal activity and the charges against you have no merit, you are an innocent person caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You Were Under Duress
If forced into helping a criminal offender out of immediate threats of injury, this would relieve you of criminal responsibility. In California, you could argue you were not a willing accessory if you assisted the perpetrator because you were coerced or intimidated.
If someone threatens to hurt you or your family unless you help them commit a crime, your actions do not demonstrate criminal intent. That means you wanted to protect yourself or your family. The law recognizes this principle, and the defense of duress can stick when people act under threats.
To make this defense work, however, you must show that the threat was immediate and severe and that you had no reasonable means to escape the situation. Evidence that lets your defense lawyer show you under duress switches your actions from actively participating in a crime to those of someone trying to make it through a frantic situation. The fundamental of this defense is that the law can punish behavior but cannot overlook that fear and coercion can encourage someone to do something they should not.
You Withdrew Your Help
Another practical defense is that you withdrew from involvement before committing the crime. Under California law, you are not criminally liable as an accessory if you first helped in or encouraged a criminal act but then consciously withdrew. This withdrawal must be unambiguous, as you left the scheme alone without a clear objective explaining your endeavors to disengage from the criminal adventure.
What if you agreed to help a friend rob someone but, after some consideration, decided not to do it? Second, this is a strong defense if you let them know you are pulling out and doing your best to keep them from getting ahead with the plan. Mere intent or planning is not enough; if you actively disengaged from the crime before it happened, the law says you did not participate.
Your defense attorney can use your withdrawal to argue that you lacked intent to aid the crime since you made the right choice at the right time. If you can demonstrate that you acted quickly and responsibly, you can tell a story in which you started on the wrong foot but ultimately chose what to do. This is a defense of the principle that people can change their minds and that proper accountability rests with those who carry out their criminal intentions.
Find a Santa Ana Criminal Defense Lawyer Near Me
Maneuvering the legal system can feel overwhelming if you are charged with accessory to a crime. That is where the skills of a dedicated criminal defense lawyer enter the picture.
At Darwish Law, we know how accessory charges work and are here to help you with the knowledgeable representation you need. Because of our experience in California law, we know how to develop effective strategies specific to fight your charges. Reach out today at 714-887-4810 if you are facing criminal charges in the Santa Ana area.