accessory after the fact
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
accessory after the fact (plural accessories after the fact)
- (law) An individual who assists someone who has committed a crime so as to protect them from legal prosecution.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter II, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book III:
- […] some of that atrocious wickedness in Jones, […] might perhaps be derived from the encouragement he had received from this fellow, who […] had been what the law calls an accessary[sic] after the fact […]
Related terms edit
Translations edit
person who assists someone who has committed a crime
|