Intellectual Property Law

What law is being caught in a crime situation when you are not acting upon the crime?

I have to write about an unjust law...I want to do the law that states that if you are in the view of the crime you can/will be held liable. (For example: being with someone who robs a store even if you did not know, or being with someone who has a weapon but not knowing) What law does this classify under?

Public Comments

1. Accessory !! :)
2. its being a witness or an accessory to the crime
3. Accessory or Guilty by Association. Depends... "An accessory is guilty by association" is basically what I'm trying to say.
4. No such law exists ANYWHERE in the US. You may have trouble convincing the authorities you had know knowledge of your "fiend's" intent to commit a crime, or that you did not BECOME an accessory by KNOWINGLY assisting in their escape, but simply being present is NOT illegal.
5. There is not any law that if you are in the view of the law , you can be held. but it will take you in a great trouble.
6. Different states use different terminology for the basic: "gross indifference to human life." It'd have to be rather egregious to be prosecuted, but otherwise you might be named and shamed in the media.