Mont. Code Ann. » TITLE 45. CRIMES · CHAPTER 2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LIABILITY · Part 3. Liability for Acts Committed by or for Another
Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 45-2-303 (2026)

Separate Conviction Of Person Accountable

✓ current as of May 2026
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  1. MCA Contents
  2. TITLE 45
  3. CHAPTER 2
  4. Part 3
  5. 45-2-303 Separate conviction of person accountable

TITLE 45. CRIMES

CHAPTER 2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LIABILITY

Part 3. Liability for Acts Committed by or for Another

Separate Conviction Of Person Accountable

45-2-303. Separate conviction of person accountable. A person who is legally accountable for the conduct of another that is an element of an offense may be convicted upon proof that the offense was committed and that the person was accountable although the other person claimed to have committed the offense has not been prosecuted or convicted, has been convicted of a different offense, is not amenable to justice, or has been acquitted.

History: En. 94-2-108 by Sec. 1, Ch. 513, L. 1973; R.C.M. 1947, 94-2-108; amd. Sec. 1641, Ch. 56, L. 2009.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1981–2024 · leading case: State v. Doyle, 2007 MT 125 (Mont. 2007).
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State v. Doyle, 2007 MT 125 (Mont. 2007). · cites it 11× “¶60 Section 45-2-303, MCA, provides, and we have long held, that a person may be “convicted for accountability on proof that the offense was committed, even though the other person claimed to have committed the offense has not been convicted or is convicted of a different crime.”
Fitzpatrick v. State, 638 P.2d 1002 (Mont. 1981). · cites it 2× “Although the aiding and abetting statutes treats both situations the same insofar as criminal accountability is concerned (§ 45-2-302 and § 45-2-303, MCA), the verdict returned by the jury does not reveal whether the jury found Fitzpatrick to be a direct principal or an aider or…”
State v. Gibbs, 797 P.2d 928 (Mont. 1990). · cites it 3× “Section 45-2-303, MCA. There is stronger proof in Rebecca’s case that she aided or abetted “trafficking,” since for a consideration to her husband, she tanned two hides for Burke.”
State v. D. Wood, 2024 MT 318 (Mont. 2024). · cites it 2× “commission of the [subject] offense”—emphasis added); § 45-2-303, MCA (a person “may be convicted” of being “legally accountable for the conduct of another” on “proof that the offense was committed” even if “the other person [alleged] to have committed the offense has not been…”
State v. Stark, 2017 MT 7N (Mont. 2017). · cites it 2× “See § 45-2-303, MCA (providing that a person may be convicted of legal accountability for the conduct of another “upon proof that the offense was committed and that the person was accountable although the other person claimed to have committed the offense has not been prosecuted…”
State v. Med. Top, 2003 MT 286N (Mont. 2003). · cites it 3× “Section 45-2-303, MCA, provides for a separate conviction of a person accountable and states that a person who is legally accountable for the conduct of another which is an element of an offense may be convicted upon proof that the offense was committed and that he was so…”
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