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degree; and those who assist before the crime takes place (e.g., by lending the weapon or by
providing information) are accessories before the fact As a general rule, all are equally
responsible in the eyes of the law and liable to the same punishment. In many cases the
accessory before the fact will be considered more culpable if, for instance, he has instigated the
offense and arranged for it to be committed. In some cases the person who actually performs
the act that causes the crime is completely innocent of evil in¬tent –for instance, the nurse who
administers to a patient, on the doctor's instructions, what she believes to be medicine but who
is in fact poison. In this situation the person who carries out the net U an innocent agent and is
not criminally responsible, the person who causes the innocent agent to act is the principal in
the first degree.

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