Criminal Justice

Man accused of driving on suspended license adds to his troubles in Zoom court hearing

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A judge in Michigan revoked bond for a man accused of driving on a suspended license after the defendant called into a court hearing on Zoom while driving. (Image from Shutterstock)

A judge in Michigan revoked bond for a man accused of driving on a suspended license after the defendant called into a court hearing on Zoom while driving.

Fox 13, the Detroit News and the New York Times are among the publications with coverage of the May 15 hearing.

“If one is facing a charge of driving with a suspended license,” the New York Times observed, “there are better ways to make one’s case than from behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.”

When Judge J. Cedric Simpson of Ann Arbor, Michigan, sees defendant Corey Harris, 44, on the video, he asks whether he is driving.

“I’m pulling into my doctor’s office, actually, so just give me one second. I’m parking right now,” Harris replies.

After Harris parks, assistant public defender Natalie Pate asks for an adjournment in the case of up to four weeks. The judge doesn’t address that request.

“So maybe I don’t understand something,” Simpson says. “This is a driving while license suspended [case]?”

Pate confirms the charges.

“And he was just driving, and he didn’t have a license,” Simpson continues.

“I don’t even know why he would do that,” Simpson says before ordering Harris to turn himself in to the Washtenaw County Jail by 6 p.m.

The New York Times cited jail records showing that Harris was booked into the Washtenaw County Jail on May 15. He was eventually released on bond.

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