All Articles

Accomplice Liability & Domestic Violence Victim-Defendants

Survivors of domestic violence and intimate partner violence are particularly vulnerable to conviction and incarceration for the crimes of their abusive partners. Our criminal legal system’s refusal to understand and present the full context of a survivor-defendant's experience and abuse when assessing criminal culpability.

In this episode, Ben Recht gives a broad overview of accomplice liability, coercion and duress, using the story of Nancy Rish. 

Nancy was sentenced to natural life imprisonment for a first-degree murder she was not aware of under the theory of accomplice liability.

https://soundcloud.com/thepodvocate/accomplice-liability-and-domestic-violence-victim-defendants