To “aid and abet” means intentionally to help someone else commit the charged crime. To establish aiding and abetting, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt:
- That someone else committed a crime.
- That a defendant consciously shared the other person’s knowledge of that crime, intended to help them, and took part in the endeavor, seeking to make it succeed.
A defendant need not perform the crime, be present when it is performed, or be aware of the details of its execution to be guilty of aiding and abetting. But a general suspicion that an unlawful act may occur or that something criminal is happening is not enough. Mere presence at the scene of a crime and knowledge that the crime is being committed are also not sufficient to establish aiding and abetting.