A recent article from the Washington Post reminds us that four

years after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Zoom

crackups are still happening in courtrooms.

Corey Harris was only a few minutes late when he joined the

zoom hearing about his suspended driver’s license. He had his

seatbelt on, too, but that let him in no position to answer

Judge Cedric Simpson’s first question, “Mr. Harris, are you

driving?” Mr. Harris, to his credit, could not tell a lie. “I’m

pulling into my doctor’s office, actually. So just give me one

second, I’m parking right now.”

The judge did just that, sitting at the bench, with his chin

propped in his hands, in the no man’s land between amused

and appalled. After a Michigan minute he did his due diligence,

asking, “Are you stationary?” “I’m pulling in right now at this

second. Yes I am.” Harris said, making it official.

The judge smiled and turned to the young public defender, “All

right, what are we doing?” “Your honor, we are requesting an

adjournment in this matter. Possibly two to four weeks if the

court will allow.” The judge needed further clarification. “OK. So maybe I don’t understand something. This is a guy whose license has been suspended?” “That is correct, your honor.” “And he was just driving, and he didn’t have a license.”

Judge Simpson paused and looked around. “Uhhh,” said Mr.

Harris. “Those are the charges,” said his lawyer.

“No,” said the judge and smiled. “I’m looking at the record, and

he doesn’t have a license. He’s suspended, and he’s just

driving.”

“That is correct,” the lawyer conceded. “I don’t even know why

he would do that,” said Judge Simpson before revoking Harris’s

bond and ordering him to turn himself in at the county jail

before 6 that evening.

The Post reports, “Footage of the hearing soon spread on social

media, where users declared the Zoom hearing the ‘funniest’

video they had seen in a while, as others expressed sympathy

for the public defender who had tried during the hearing to

have the case adjourned.

“This hearing is the latest of many bizarre scenes that have

unfolded in courtrooms since the onset of the pandemic, from a doctor joining a hearing from an operating room to an attorney accidentally showing up with a cat filter. “‘I’m not a cat’ he told the courtroom as the feline mouthed what he was saying. The lawyer later told The Post he was happy to give people an opportunity to ‘laugh at my cat moment at my expense. …We’ve had a stressful year.’