Law Crimes

Frontin, Courtney

CRJ 209.91

Unit #5

1. At common law there were four parties to a crime. Today, there are two parties to a crime.

a. Please list and define the four parties to a crime @ common law; “At common law, there were four parties to crime: 1. Principals in the first degree persons who actually commit the crime 2. Principals in the second degree persons present when the crime is committed and who help commit it (lookouts and getaway drivers) 3. Accessories before the fact persons not present when the crimes are committed but who help before the crime is committed (for example, someone who provided a weapon used in a murder) 4. Accessories after the fact persons who help after the crime is committed (harboring a fugitive)” (Samaha, 2014, p. 231).

b. Please list and define the two parties to a crime. “These distinctions used to be important because of the common law rule that the government couldn’t try accomplices until principals in the first degree were convicted. This ban applied even if there was absolute proof of guilt. Why? Probably, because all felonies were capital offenses. But as the number of capital crimes shrank, so did the need for the complicated law of principals and accessories. Today, there are two parties to criminal complicity: 1. Accomplices participants before and during the commission of crimes 2. Accessories participants after crimes are committed” (Samaha, 2014, p. 231).

2. Please explain the extent of "accomplice" and "accessory" criminal liability. “All participants before and during the commission of a crime (accomplices) are prosecuted for the crime itself (for example, accomplices to murder are prosecuted as murderers). So participation before and during a crime (accomplice liability) is a very serious business, because the punishment for being an accomplice is the same as for the person who actually committed the crime. Participation after crimes are committed (accessory liability) is...