• Most penal statutes establish the following four requirements: (1) someone else must have committed a felony, and it must have been completed before the accessory’s act; (2) the accessory must not be guilty as a principal; (3) the accessory must personally help the principal try to avoid the consequences of the felony; and (4) the accessory’s assistance must be rendered with guilty knowledge. An accessory after the fact may be prosecuted for obstructing justice. — Sometimes shortened to accessory after. [Cases: Criminal Law 74, 82. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 140, 146–147.]
accessory after the fact
An accessory who was not at the scene of the crime but knows that a crime has been committed and who helps the offender try to escape arrest or punishment. 18 USCA § 3.
