CALCRIM No. 401

To prove that the defendant is guilty of a crime based on aiding and

abetting that crime, the People must prove that:

1. The perpetrator committed the crime;

2. The defendant knew that the perpetrator intended to commit the

crime;

3. Before or during the commission of the crime, the defendant

intended to aid and abet the perpetrator in committing the crime;

AND

4. The defendant’s words or conduct did in fact aid and abet the

perpetrator’s commission of the crime.

Someone aids and abets a crime if he or she knows of the perpetrator’s

unlawful purpose and he or she specifically intends to, and does in fact,

aid, facilitate, promote, encourage, or instigate the perpetrator’s

commission of that crime.

If all of these requirements are proved, the defendant does not need to

actually have been present when the crime was committed to be guilty as

an aider and abettor.

[If you conclude that defendant was present at the scene of the crime or

failed to prevent the crime, you may consider that fact in determining

whether the defendant was an aider and abettor. However, the fact that a

person is present at the scene of a crime or fails to prevent the crime

does not, by itself, make him or her an aider and abettor.]

[A person who aids and abets a crime is not guilty of that crime if he or

she withdraws before the crime is committed. To withdraw, a person

must do two things:

1. He or she must notify everyone else he or she knows is involved

in the commission of the crime that he or she is no longer

participating. The notification must be made early enough to

prevent the commission of the crime.

AND

2. He or she must do everything reasonably within his or her power

to prevent the crime from being committed. He or she does not

have to actually prevent the crime.

The People have the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that

the defendant did not withdraw. If the People have not met this burden,

you may not find the defendant guilty under an aiding and abetting

theory.]

New January 2006; Revised August 2012, September 2023