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In many states the traditional distinctions between the culpability of accomplices and principals to a crime have been replaced by statute—including the felony murder rule that may make an accomplice guilty of first degree or capital murder if he was the lookout or getaway driver for a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 Georgia, the law does not make a significant distinction between the principal offender and an accomplice in the commission of a crime. Under Georgia law, a person who aids, abets, encourages, or assists another person in the planning or commission of a crime can be charged and punished as if they were the principal offender. This is codified in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) § 16-2-20, which states that every person concerned in the commission of a crime is a party to it and may be charged with and convicted of commission of the crime. The felony murder rule in Georgia, as per O.C.G.A. § 16-5-1, holds that if a death occurs during the commission of a felony, all participants involved in the felony can be charged with felony murder, regardless of their role in the actual act that caused the death. This means that an accomplice, such as a lookout or getaway driver, could potentially face first degree or capital murder charges if a death occurs during the commission of a crime like a bank robbery.