Uncontrollable Circumstances Defense

a defense to various criminal charges such as failure to appear or surrender alleging that uncontrollable circumstances prevented the person from appearing or surrendering. In order to establish this defense, the person must prove that the following elements are more probably true than not true: uncontrollable circumstances prevented the person from appearing or surrendering; the person did not contribute to the creation of the circumstances in reckless disregard of the requirement to appear or surrender; and the person appeared or surrendered as soon as the uncontrollable circumstances ceased to exist.