In criminal law. An instigator, or setter on; one who promotes or procures a crime to be committed; one who commands, advises, instigates, of encourages another to commit a crime; a person who, being present or in the neighborhood, incites another to commit a crime, and thus becomes a principal. The distinction between abettors and accessaries is the presence or absence at the commission of the crime. Cowell; Fleta, lib. 1, c. 34. Presence and participation are necessary to constitute a person an abettor. Green v. State, 13 Mo. 382; State v. Teahan, 50 Conn. 92; Connaughty v. State, 1 Wis. 159, 60 Am. Dec. 370.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
crim. law. One who encourages or incites, persuades or sets another on to commit a crime . Such a person is either a principal or, an accessory to the crime. When present, aiding, where a felony is committed, he is guilty as principal in the second degree ; when absent, he is merely an accessory.