a crime subjects you to the same penalty

as you would face if you would have actually

been the principal committing the crime.

In the state of Nevada, an aider and abettor

is treated as a principal.

Aiding and abetting is helping, counseling,

or encouraging somebody to commit a crime.

A typical example of aiding and abetting would be,

a friend decides that they're going to rob a bank.

They ask you to drive the vehicle.

You agree to drive the vehicle, but you

say I'm not going inside the bank.

Some people think that if they're only

driving the vehicle, they could not possibly

be charged with bank robbery.

But that's not true.

If you assist someone, for example, by driving get-away.

You are actually assisting them in the commission of the crime.

And therefore, under Nevada law, and also under federal law,

you would be held accountable for bank robbery

even if you just drove they get-away car.

Additionally, you could be found accountable

for any crime that could be a natural and probable

consequence of the commission of the crime

that you attended to aid and abet.

For example, if you knew that your friend was going in

to rob a bank with a gun and somebody got shot,

you could not only be charged with bank robbery,

but you could be charged with murder if that person died.

Just because you're in a vehicle and somebody

commits a crime in your presence, that does not

mean that you're legally accountable.

So mere presence is a defense to a charge

of aiding and abetting.

Additionally, mere knowledge without assistance

is not a crime.

So if you know somebody is going to commit a crime

and you don't do anything to stop it,

but you don't do anything to help or assist them,

then you would not be guilty of aiding and abetting.

Of course in all circumstances, it's incumbent upon the state

to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were knowingly

and intentionally aiding and abetting a crime

in order to find you guilty.