Failure to appear; penalty

15 M.R.S. § 1091, under Chapter 105-A.

15 M.R.S. § 1091

1. Failure to appear. A defendant who has been admitted to either preconviction or postconviction bail and who, in fact, fails to appear as required is guilty of:

A. A Class E crime if the underlying crime was punishable by a maximum period of imprisonment of less than one year; or [PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. H, §2 (NEW); PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. X, §2 (AFF).]

B. A Class C crime if the underlying crime was punishable by a maximum period of imprisonment of one year or more. [PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. H, §2 (NEW); PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. X, §2 (AFF).]

2. Affirmative defense. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under subsection 1 that the failure to appear resulted from just cause.

3. Strict liability. Violation of this section is a strict liability crime as defined in Title 17-A, section 34, subsection 4-A.