Is a person who is a "aider and abettor" liable for another's actions as a result of the other's actions?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. McCoy, 108 Cal.Rptr.2d 188, 24 P.3d 1210, 25 Cal.4th 1111 (Cal. 2001):
Aider and abettor liability is thus vicarious only in the sense that the aider and abettor is liable for another's actions as well as that person's own actions. When a person "chooses to become a part of the criminal activity of another, she says in essence, `your acts are my acts....'" (Dressier, Reassessing the Theoretical Underpinnings of Accomplice Liability: New Solutions to an Old Problem (1985) 37 Hastings L.J. 91, 111, quoted in People v. Prettyman, supra, 14 Cal.4th at p. 259, 58 Cal.Rptr.2d 827, 926 P.2d 1013.) But that person's own acts are also her acts for which she is also liable. Moreover, that person's mental state is her own; she is
[108 Cal.Rptr.2d 194]
liable for her mens rea, not the other person's.[108 Cal.Rptr.2d 194]
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