A criminal accomplice is a person who knowingly, voluntarily, or intentionally assists another person in the commission of a crime—or under some circumstances, a person who fails to prevent another person from committing a crime. Unlike a person who aids and abets a crime by helping with the planning of the crime but is often not present at the scene of the crime—and unlike an accessory after the fact, who is not present at the scene of the crime but assists after the commission of the crime to help the perpetrator avoid arrest or punishment—an accomplice actively participates in the commission of the crime. For example, a person who acts as a lookout or getaway driver for a bank robbery is an accomplice.

In many states the traditional distinctions between the culpability of accomplices and principals to a crime have been replaced by statute—including the felony murder rule that may make an accomplice guilty of first degree or capital murder if he was the lookout or getaway driver for a bank robbery that resulted in a death.

In Florida, the concept of an accomplice is covered under the state's complicity statutes. Florida law does not distinguish between principals and accomplices in the commission of a crime; instead, it holds that anyone who aids, abets, counsels, hires, or otherwise procures the commission of a crime can be charged as if they had committed the primary offense themselves. This is codified in Florida Statute 777.011, which provides that a person who commits any criminal offense or aids, abets, or acts as an accomplice is a principal in the first degree and may be charged, convicted, and punished as such. Furthermore, under the felony murder rule, as outlined in Florida Statute 782.04, if a person is killed during the commission of certain felonies, including robbery, all participants in the felony can be charged with first-degree murder, regardless of their role in the crime. This means that a lookout or getaway driver in a bank robbery that results in death could potentially face capital murder charges in Florida.