Accomplices And Accessories To A Crime

Such terms such as accomplice and assessor are specialized terms developed by the common law to distinguish criminal culpability. According to our textbook, accomplices are individuals involved before and during a crime (Lippman, 2014). Categories in which accessories can fall under include accessory before the fact and accessory after the fact. For accomplice, the government must prove that a defendant intentionally aided in the commission of a crime or who intends to help the crime succeed. The case involving a former New England Patriot tight end, Aaron Hernandez is a perfect example of both accomplices and accessories to a crime.

(The information in this case was provided by Fox sports and can be found at http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/aaron-hernandez-murder-case-timeline-051414)

On the morning of July 16, 2012, Hernandez was said to have pulled up next to a vehicle in South Boston where he opened fire and killed two immigrants. Alexander Bradley, an associate, was said to have been with Hernandez and who had witnessed the incident. Late that evening, Hernandez summoned two more associates, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace Jr., who drove to a section of Boston to pick up Odin Lloyd. Around 3am in a secluded field, Odin Lloyd was shot several times presumably by Hernandez and Wallace. Although Bradley was only charged with failing to answer a subpoena, Ortiz and Wallace were indicted to accessory after the fact but would later be charged with murder. In other words, Ortiz and Wallace could be categorized as individuals involved before and during the crime; accomplices. A cousin of Hernandez, Tanya Singleton, was charged with accessory after the fact to murder for helping Wallace flee to Florida.