- A man with a suspended license had to attend court in Michigan recently but was allowed to do so on Zoom.
- What he wasn’t allowed to do was drive a vehicle but he did exactly that during the hearing.
- This appears to be a recurring issue in the state of Michigan.
Corey Harris had to attend court because he was allegedly caught while driving without a license. One might think that he fully understood the charge and his responsibilities since he showed up to court. Somehow, the message appears as though it didn’t get through, because when he logged in on Zoom, he was actively driving a vehicle on video. Suffice to say, his day only got worse after that.
Harris joined the Zoom court of the Honorable Judge Cedric Simpson while en route to a doctor’s appointment. It’s evident from the recording of the proceedings that Simpson is somewhat surprised by the situation. “Are you driving?” he immediately remarks. As Harris confirms this and mentions he’s “parking right now,” Simpson wears a wry smile as he looks at Mr. Harris’ court-appointed counsel.
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The judge takes a moment to collect himself. In an act of humility, he says, “So maybe I don’t understand something. This is a driving while license suspended [case]? And he was just driving. And… he didn’t have a license.” After confirming the situation, Simpson swiftly revoked Harris’ bond and required him to return to jail. There’s no telling where things go from here, but they don’t look great.
I’m not sure if it’s something in the water there in Michigan or something else, but this seems to happen with some regularity. In one case, the driver showed up to court while stationary but still in the driver’s seat of a car. The judge in that case said, “I believe you drove wherever you are in the vehicle you’re in and you’re dumb enough to go on video with you sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle. Makes me think you haven’t gotten the message.”
In a completely separate case, a defendant showed up on Zoom to a suspended license hearing while actively driving. “Are you driving right now?” Judge Erane C. Washington asked the man at the start of the hearing. “Yeah,” he responded before ultimately chiding the judge. “Are you having a bad day, just say that,” he said to Washington.
Evidently, she ended up finding him in contempt after he posted the video to his social media accounts.