MODEL PENAL CODE ANNOTATED
 

MODEL PENAL CODE

 
Section 2.06. Liability for Conduct of Another;  Complicity.

  (1) A person is guilty of an offense if it is committed by his own conduct or by the conduct of another person for which he is legally accountable, or both.

  (2) A person is legally accountable for the conduct of another person when:

    (a) acting with the kind of culpability that is sufficient for the commission of the offense, he causes an innocent or irresponsible person to engage in such conduct;  or

    (b) he is made accountable for the conduct of such other person by the Code or by the law defining the offense;  or

    (c) he is an accomplice of such other person in the commission of the offense.

  (3) A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense if:

    (a) with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense, he

      (i) solicits such other person to commit it;  or

      (ii) aids or agrees or attempts to aid such other person in planning or committing it;  or

      (iii) having a legal duty to prevent the commission of the offense, fails to make proper effort so to do;  or

    (b) his conduct is expressly declared by law to establish his complicity.

 (4) When causing a particular result is an element of an offense, an accomplice in the conduct causing such result is an accomplice in the commission of that offense, if he acts with the kind of culpability, if any, with respect to that result that is sufficient for the commission of the offense.

  (5) A person who is legally incapable of committing a particular offense himself may be guilty thereof if it is committed by the conduct of another person for which he is legally accountable, unless such liability is inconsistent with the purpose of the provision establishing his incapacity.

  (6) Unless otherwise provided by the Code or by the law defining the offense, a person is not an accomplice in an offense committed by another person if:

    (a) he is a victim of that offense;  or

    (b) the offense is so defined that his conduct is inevitably incident to its commission;  or

    (c) he terminates his complicity prior to the commission of the offense and

      (i) wholly deprives it of effectiveness in the commission of the offense;  or

      (ii) gives timely warning to the law enforcement authorities or otherwise makes proper effort to prevent the commission of the offense.

  (7) An accomplice may be convicted on proof of the commission of the offense and of his complicity therein, though the person claimed to have committed the offense has not been prosecuted or convicted or has been convicted of a different offense or degree of offense or has an immunity to prosecution or conviction or has been acquitted.