Types of Assistance
To be deemed an accomplice, a person must assist in the commission of the crime by "aiding, counseling, commanding or encouraging" the principal in the commission of the criminal offense. Assistance can be either physical or psychological. Physical assistance includes actual help in committing the crime as long as the acts of assistance do not constitute an element of the offense. It also includes such things as procuring weapons to be used to commit the crime, or serving as a lookout during the commission of the crime or providing protection from arrest or prosecution after the crime’s commission. Psychological assistance includes encouraging the principal to commit the offense through words or gestures or mere presence as long as the principal knows that the accomplice purpose is present to provide assistance. It is not necessary that the accomplice's acts cause or contribute to the principal's committing the crime. In other words the prosecution need not prove that the accomplice's acts were either a proximate cause or cause in fact of the crime.
The prosecution must show that the defendant provided assistance, and intended to assist the perpetrator. While substantial activity is not required mere presence at the scene of the crime or even knowledge that a crime is about to be committed is not sufficient for accessorial liability.
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