Spakes v. State

The majority holds that an attempt to surrender is not a predicate to the necessity defense in a prosecution for the offense of escape. The majority reaches this conclusion by reasoning that, because escape is not a continuing offense, an inmate’s departure may be justified merely by the circumstances that exist at the time he initially leaves custody, regardless of whether he attempts to return to custody after those circumstances dissipate. Under the majority’s analysis, a convict is free to stay at large forever, so long as his initial departure was immediately necessary to avoid imminent…