The term accessory to manslaughter is a criminal offense in the United States. Manslaughter refers to the killing of a human in any manner that is considered to be less culpable than murder. Often, the term manslaughter refers to a situation in which the individual's frame of time at the time of the murder. This instance may include the unintentional killing of a person but with a willful disregard for life. However, an accessory is not the person who committed the crime, but someone who allowed it to happen, had knowledge of it happening, or who performed actions after the incident to hide the incident or the criminal from the law. An accessory may face lesser legal charges than the criminal may.