Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 97-1-3 (2026)
Accessories before the fact
✓ current as of July 2026
Every person who shall be an accessory to any felony, before the fact, shall be deemed and considered a principal, and shall be indicted and punished as such; and this whether the principal have been previously convicted or not.
Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 64, art. 12, Title 8 (6); 1857, ch. 64, art. 2; 1871, § 2484; 1880, § 2698; 1892, § 950; 1906, § 1026; Hemingway's 1917, § 751; 1930, § 769; 1942, § 1995.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 100
cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1973–2023 · leading case: Simmons v. State, 805 So. 2d 452 (Miss. 2001).
Simmons v. State, 805 So. 2d 452 (Miss. 2001). “Additionally, Simmons is guilty as a principal under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-1-3 (2000). [3] Thus, we find no error in the giving of this instruction.”
Damion LaFredrick Pace v. State of Mississippi, 242 So. 3d 107 (Miss. 2018). “" Miss. Code Ann. § 97-1-3 (Rev. 2014). "Any person who is present at the commission of a criminal offense and aids, counsels, or encourages another in the commission of that offense is an 'aider and abettor' and is equally guilty with the principal offender.”
Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez, 549 U.S. 183 (2007). “1 (2004); Miss.Code Ann. § 97-1-3 (2006); Mo.Rev. Stat.”
Stringer v. State, 500 So. 2d 928 (Miss. 1986). “Miss. Code Ann. §§ 97-1-3 and 97-3-19(2)(e) (Supp.”
Malone v. State, 486 So. 2d 360 (Miss. 1986). “Guilbeau easily falls within and establishes all of the elements of the crime of armed robbery. Malone, however, was not present at the time of the armed robbery.”
Natasha Orlantha Stewart v. State of Mississippi, 211 So. 3d 724 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016). “1973); Miss. Code Ann. § 97-1-3 (Rev. 2014) (defining accessory before the fact).”
Van Buren v. State, 498 So. 2d 1224 (Miss. 1986). “DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN REFUSING DEFENDANT'S INSTRUCTION D-3 SETTING FORTH THE BURDEN OF PROOF AS TO THE GUILT OF THE PRINCIPAL? Van Buren seeks to infuse the requirements of the felony accessory statute, Miss. Code Ann. § 97-1-3 (1972), into the vote fraud provision of §…”
Hoops v. State, 681 So. 2d 521 (Miss. 1996). “"Under [ Miss. Code Ann. § 97-1-3 ], an accessory to any felony before the fact is a principal and may be convicted as a principal in an indictment charging him or her as principal.”
Jones v. State, 381 So. 2d 983 (Miss. 1980). “He does not challenge the indictment, nor suggest the legislature lacks the power to expose him to guilt of capital murder in the absence of proof that he had a specific intention to kill. We conclude that the verdict in the guilt-determining phase is within the law and the…”
Corley v. State, 585 So. 2d 765 (Miss. 1991). “Here, for example, we consider Rule 3.03(2)'s mandate not only in the context of the statutory definition of murder found in Section 97-3-19(1) [1] , but as well in light of Miss.”
State v. Tokman, 564 So. 2d 1339 (Miss. 1990). “Miss. Code Ann. § 97-1-3 (1972); Fairchild v.”
Turner v. State, 573 So. 2d 1340 (Miss. 1990). “Miss. Code Ann. §§ 97-1-3 and XX-XX-XXX(A)(a)(4) and -139(a)(1) (1972 and Supp.”
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