§ 609.05 — Liability for Crimes of Another
Plain-Language Summary
Makes a person criminally responsible for crimes committed by someone else if they intentionally helped, advised, hired, or conspired with the other person. Also holds a person liable for any additional crimes that were a foreseeable result of the planned crime.
609.05 LIABILITY FOR CRIMES OF ANOTHER.
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Subdivision 1.Aiding, abetting; liability.
A person is criminally liable for a crime committed by another if the person intentionally aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires with or otherwise procures the other to commit the crime. §
Subd. 2.Expansive liability.
A person liable under subdivision 1 is also liable for any other crime committed in pursuance of the intended crime if reasonably foreseeable by the person as a probable consequence of committing or attempting to commit the crime intended. §
Subd. 2a.Exception.
(a) A person may not be held criminally liable for a violation of section 609.185, paragraph (a), clause (3), for a death caused by another unless the person intentionally aided, advised, hired, counseled, or conspired with or otherwise procured the other with the intent to cause the death of a human being.
(b) A person may not be held criminally liable for a violation of section 609.19, subdivision 2, clause (1), for a death caused by another unless the person was a major participant in the underlying felony and acted with extreme indifference to human life.
(c) As used in this subdivision, “major participant” means a person who:
(1) used a deadly weapon during the commission of the underlying felony or provided a deadly weapon to another participant where it was reasonably foreseeable that the weapon would be used in the underlying felony;
(2) caused substantial bodily harm to another during the commission of the underlying felony;
(3) coerced or hired a participant to undertake actions in furtherance of the underlying felony that proximately caused the death, and where it was reasonably foreseeable that such actions would cause death or great bodily harm; or
(4) impeded another person from preventing the death either by physical action or by threat of physical action where it was reasonably foreseeable that death or great bodily harm would result. §
Subd. 3.Abandonment of criminal purpose.
A person who intentionally aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires with or otherwise procures another to commit a crime and thereafter abandons that purpose and makes a reasonable effort to prevent the commission of the crime prior to its commission is not liable if the crime is thereafter committed. §
Subd. 4.Circumstances of conviction.
A person liable under this section may be charged with and convicted of the crime although the person who directly committed it has not been convicted, or has been convicted of some other degree of the crime or of some other crime based on the same act, or if the person is a juvenile who has not been found delinquent for the act. §
Subd. 5.Definition.
For purposes of this section, a crime also includes an act committed by a juvenile that would be a crime if committed by an adult.
History:
1963 c 753 art 1 s 609.05; 1986 c 444; 1991 c 279 s 22,23; 2023 c 52 art 4 s 3
History: History: 1963 c 753 art 1 s 609.05; 1986 c 444; 1991 c 279 s 22,23; 2023 c 52 art 4 s 3