At law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offence. For example, in a bank robbery, the person who points the gun at the teller and asks for the money is guilty of armed robbery. However, anyone else directly involved in the commission of the crime, such as the lookout or the getaway car driver, is an accomplice, even though in the absence of an underlying offence keeping a lookout or driving a car would not be an offence.An accomplice differs from an accessory in that an accomplice is present at the actual crime, and could be prosecuted even if the main criminal is not charged or convicted. An accessory is generally not present at the actual crime, and may be subject to lesser penalties than an accomplice or principal.In older sources, an accomplice was often referred to as an abettor. This term is not in active use, having been replaced by accomplice.At law, an accomplice has the sam
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accomplice