Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
accessory after the fact
An accessory who knows that a crime has been committed and who helps the offender try to escape arrest or punishment. 0 The liability of such an accessory is still treated separately under most penal statutes. There are 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. - Sometimes shortened to accessory after ."At common law, an accessory after the fact is one who, knowing that a felony has been committed by another, receives, relieves, comforts, or assists the felon, or in any manner aids him to escape arrest or punishment. To be guilty as an accessory after the fact one must have known that a completed felony was committed, and that the person aided was the guilty party. The mere presence of the defendant at the scene of the crime will not preclude a conviction as an accessory after the fact, where the evidence shows the defendant became involved in the crime after its commission." 21 Am. Jur. 2d Criminal Law ยง 209, at 275-76 (1998).
after the fact
subsequent to an event of legal significance <accessory after the fact >. ag. abbr. attorney general.