How can people be so stupid?

Short story: Guy attends court hearing for driving on a suspended license via Zoom....while driving.


long version:

link

Footage from a Michigan court hearing went viral after the defendant Corey Harris, who had a suspended license, joined the Zoom call while clearly behind the wheel.

District Judge Cedric Simpson of Ann Arbor is seen in the video reacting with disbelief as Harris dials in, his seatbelt visible across his torso and his car obviously in motion.

'Mr. Harris, are you driving?' Simpson asked the defendant.

'Actually, I'm pulling into my doctor's office,' Harris replied. 'So just give me one second…I'm parking right now.'

A district judge in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was astonished when a man with a suspended driver’s license joined a court Zoom call while driving a car

District Judge Cedric Simpson of Ann Arbor is seen in the video reacting with disbelief as Harris dials in, his seatbelt visible across his torso and his car obviously in motion

The footage from the Zoom call shows the legal teams in court standing in shock, while those at the back of the room do their best to contain their laughter.

The judge, bewildered and bemused, then asked if Harris was stationary, to which he replied, 'just give me a second.'

For your first offense, one instance of driving on a suspended license in Michigan can lead to a $500 fine and up to 93 days in jail.

A second offense could mean one year in jail and an $1000 fine.

In an attempt to lessen Harris's inevitable citation, his public defender requested an adjournment for 'possibly up to four weeks if the court would allow.'

But Simpson said, astonished: 'Okay, 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.'

'That is correct your honor,' the public defender admitted in defeat.

'I don't even know why he would do that,' the judge said.

'Defendant's bond is revoked in this matter,' he declared. 'The defendant is to turn himself into the Washtenaw County Jail by 6pm today.'

'Oh my God,' Harris replied, shocked that they would deliver a verdict that fast without hearing his side of the argument.

I am pleasantly surprised that the court held that savant accountable.

Nothing will probably happen to him anyhow. Here’s from the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office where this occurred:
Cash Bail Policy

Policy 2021-02: “No Cash Bail” and Pretrial Detention Policy
The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office does not make use of cash bail. Cash bail is a system under which a defendant who has been accused of a crime is required to post money in order to secure release from jail pending trial. Importantly, cash bail forces defendants to pay for their release before they have been convicted. In function, cash bail imposes pre-conviction punishment on criminal defendants who cannot afford to pay.

By its very terms, cash bail is socioeconomically inequitable. Under a cash bail system, poorer people—even those who are accused of relatively minor crimes—are forced to sit in jail for days, weeks, or years. At the same time, cash bail allows wealthier people who are accused of serious crimes to go free pending trial.

Accordingly, it is the policy of the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office not to seek cash bail in any case. That does not mean that people who pose a danger to the community pending trial will simply walk free. Rather, it means that we seek to apply the same standards to everyone—regardless of how much money they have in their bank account. We seek to impose appropriate non-monetary pretrial conditions (including, where appropriate, pre-trial detention) based on the threat one poses to the community, not based on how much money they have.

Zoom court is a riot.

During the pandemic, some judges here shut down altogether, while others transitioned to Zoom hearings. Scenes similar to this became commonplace.

-Folks appearing on Zoom while the person with whom they have a No Contact Order is hanging out in the background.

-Folks ordered to abstain from alcohol and drugs joining the Zoom call in their living rooms that are festooned with empty beer cans and bongs.

-Folks appearing for court while lying naked in bed, covered with merely a sheet. Or their naked spouse appearing from underneath a pile of blankets on the bed in the background and stumbling sleepily off to the bathroom. (And keep in mind the rule for LE/FF/EMS: 99.9% of the time, the people you end up seeing naked are not the people you want to see naked.)

-Folks having screaming matches with their significant others while simultaneously trying to appear for court.

And more.

One of my favorite examples was a mother who had lost custody of her teenaged kids due to her neglect and criminal activity. The kids ran away from their foster home and were believed to be hiding out back with Mom, which Mom had denied. Mom appears via Zoom for a hearing in one of her cases. One of the runaway kids ("John") saunters across the background. Judge confronts Mom about "John" being there. Mom tries to claim it had to have been someone else, not "John". Then the other runaway sibling walks into the room and calls out "Hey John... What time's that court shit today?"

There is a show on A&E network called Court Cam that shows a lot of this stuff, including from this same judge’s court. Watched one the other day where the defendant rolled and lit a fatty on camera while waiting for his hearing to begin.

That's hilarious, the idea that he never thought about the repercussions of calling in while driving, guess he's going to be in the pokey for a bit...

Well, these are societies overachievers.

If you're that obtuse, you deserve whatever you get.

I like that judge. I have watched quite a few of his hearings and he is spot on. Need more like him.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: patw,

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Nothing will probably happen to him anyhow. ...

Policy 2021-02: “No Cash Bail” and Pretrial Detention Policy...

Am I incorrect in taking from the report, that he just had his trial, was found (admitted) guilty by his own visible actions and testimony? In the presence of his council the judge and court?

And as such, sentenced at that time by the judge with the demand he turn himself in and that his bond was revoked?

With the expectation he be held until sentencing?

Would he still be released on the "No Cash Bail"?

I would think he was beyond that option at this point.

OK. After seeing the video and the judge stating he would be denied bond and bench arrest warrant would be issued, if he did not turn himself in.

So, I guess he turns himself in and may be able to "No Cash Bail" and walk out.

He'll probably drive himself to jail...

I've seen a fair number of funny things with unrepresented litigants at Zoom hearings.

LOTS of inappropriate clothing. No nudity, but close. People driving. Babies squalling. You name it.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I've seen a fair number of funny things with unrepresented litigants at Zoom hearings.

LOTS of inappropriate clothing. No nudity, but close. People driving. Babies squalling. You name it.

To be fair, you also see all that at in-person hearings too.

Well, maybe not the driving.

Saw a (female) judge go off on a young lady who showed up to court in a top that was way too low cut and way too tight. The buttchewing included the phrase (paraphrasing): "You're not going to come into my courtroom with your titties popping out!"

Not so fast, folks.

Suspended driver who went viral when he logged into Zoom court hearing from his CAR reveals huge twist in his case after being released from jail... and the judge might owe him an apology

By ALEX HAMMER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 23:45 EDT, 3 June 2024 | UPDATED: 05:04 EDT, 4 June 2024

A supposedly suspended driver mocked online for driving a car during a virtual court appearance has revealed he was actually a victim of a clerical error.

Corey Harris, 44, revealed the monumental mix-up two weeks after the virtual May 15 hearing for an October traffic stop in suburban Michigan went viral.

Judge Cedric Simpson expressed disbelief, after Harris - a prominent member of the Ann Arbor community - appeared to drive during a hearing over a suspended license.

Harris, however, told 7 News Detroit the order to halt his license was actually rescinded in January 2022, but never forwarded to the necessary state authorities.

Supported by court records viewed by the station, the development comes after Harris already spent two days in jail thanks to an irate Judge Cedric Simpson.

Harris, meanwhile, continues to go viral - to the driver's dismay.

'Mr. Harris, are you driving?' Simpson asks in the snippet - which concluded with Harris' bail being revoked and Simpson ordering him to surrender to authorities by 6 p.m.

Harris, in turn, replies that he is behind the wheel - to which Simpson expressed surprise.

'OK, so maybe I don't understand something,' the Ann Arbor jurist says, visibly incredulous

'This is a driving-while-license-suspended [case]... And he was just driving, and he doesn't have a license.'

Harris, at this point, also appears surprised, and tells Simpson he had been pulling into a parking lot at a doctor's office for an appointment - later revealed to be for his wife.

But Simpson remained unconvinced, eventually ruling that Harris should spent two days in county lockup the hearing, and himself in.

He obliged to both, reporting to Washtenaw County Jail that day.

Harris said the stint never should have happened - since another court lifted the license suspension two years ago, but failed to get the paperwork to the agency responsible for reinstatement.

He says he is now 'embarrassed' by the case - as he deals with the fallout of being wrongly lampooned by the greater public.

'With the type of ties that I have with the church and the community, it's very embarrassing,' Harris told the station of the widely viewed incident.

'What was I thinking? I was thinking about about getting my wife medical help,' he said of line of questioning aired by Simpson.

'That's what I was thinking.'

He added: 'I wasn't thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don't care about all that.

'They were supposed to have been lifted it two years ago, but they didn't.'

Court records support the churchgoer's claims, 14 years after his license was suspended in 2010 in the first place.

The ruling, in that case, stemmed from unpaid child support, but was reversed 12 years later by another judge, 7 News found.

The station was the first to find the clerical error in Harris's court records, and reported that Simpson himself did not know about the reinstatement, because the Michigan Secretary of State's office never received the necessary clearance.

The agency supposed to send such proof, Saginaw County Friend of the Court, assists clients with modifying custody, parenting time and child support orders.

As recently as Thursday afternoon, Harris's license was still listed as suspended — the same records police and the judge were going off of.

'I don't even know why he would do that,' Simpson snipes in the now-viral video clip, at Harris's expense.

Revealing how he has already visited the Secretary of State's office in hopes to resolve the matter, he used the mix-up as a chance to warn others about prospective failures from their neighborhood civic body.

He said: 'Always double-check behind these workers. Because they will say that they will do something and they don't do it.'

Moreover, neither Simpson of Harris’ public defender have commented on the oversight, given they also missed it.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Saginaw County Friend of the Court for clarification in what went wrong in Harris's case. The rescindment is still visible in records kept by the state.

quote:

"You're not going to come into my courtroom with your titties popping out!"

What a killjoy.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Moreover, neither Simpson of Harris’ public defender have commented on the oversight, given they also missed it.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Saginaw County Friend of the Court for clarification in what went wrong in Harris's case. The rescindment is still visible in records kept by the state.

Government bureaucracy at it's most normal.

Michigan government agencies at their finest.

I once received an building code violation notice in the mail, a ten day warning prior to a written violation being issued. Only problem was that three weeks prior we sold the property.

The day of the sale I reported it to the city clerk’s office in person to remove our residential property tax reduction. Received the paperwork and left. Wanted to make sure my name was off the property and my new exemption would not get tangled up with the old one in different counties.

When I called the Building Department the next morning the reply I got stunned me. She said that I was still the person of record as the owner. I told her to take a walk across the courtyard (one roof complex) and go to the Clerk’s office as obviously it was too much work for them to report to the other departments that I no longer owned it.

Then the “best” response, she asked me if I would contact the new owner and tell them of the pending violation notice! I said “Let me think here, NO!” as I hung up the phone.

Government....They're not happy until you're not happy.

I was waiting for a case in one of our District Courts (minor criminal, small claims, traffic, etc.) when two teenaged morons in the gallery (there as witnesses for a hearing on a restraining order, IIRC), couldn’t keep their hands off each other. The second time the judge had to admonish them for literally making out in the courtroom, they were escorted out and held - at least until the judge wrapped up his morning docket, which took a few hours. Hopefully, they were held in separate cells.

-Rob

$750.00 fine,90 hours of community service, licence suspended for 45 days, three year probation,