In flagrante delicto In flagrante delicto In flagrante delicto (Latin: "in blazing offence"), or simply in flagrante, a legal term, indicates that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught " or "caught rapid" are English equivalents. The phrase combines the present active participle "flagrāns" (flaming or blazing) with the noun "dēlictum" (offence, misdeed, or crime). In this term the Latin preposition "in", not indicating motion, takes the ablative. The closest literal translation would be "in blazing offence", where "blazing" is a metaphor for vigorous, highly visible action. In Japan, the phrase's translation, "Genkōhan"
Accessory (legal term) same liability as principals. It is now possible to be convicted as an accessory before the fact even though the principal has not been convicted or (in most jurisdictions) even if the principal was acquitted at an earlier trial. However, modern U.S. jurisdictions punish accessories after the fact for a separate criminal offense distinct from the underlying crime and having a different (and less severe) punishment. Some states still use the term "accessory after the fact"; others no longer use the term, but have comparable laws against hindering apprehension or prosecution, obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, harboring a felon,