Dylan Murray
If you’re in court for committing a crime, it seems as though it would be common knowledge to not continue to do that crime during your hearing.
This has shockingly come up semi-frequently since the COVID-19 pandemic introduced virtual court hearings, but one of the most glaring examples of this occurred recently in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Corey Harris, a Michigan resident, was in court because he committed the crime of driving with a suspended license. This is a misdemeanor that can land you a $500 fine and up to 93 days in jail in the state of Michigan on your first offense.
That is why, when Harris joined his hearing over Zoom while driving his car, Judge Cedric Simpson was amazed by Harris’s seemingly accidental display of defiance.
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Harris noted that he was driving to the doctor’s office upon joining the call, requesting that the judge give him time to pull into the parking lot before continuing the hearing.
This turn of events confused Judge Simpson, who confirmed that the defendant was driving before thinking out loud regarding the bewildering situation.
“OK, 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,” Judge Simpson asked, to which Natalie Tate, Harris’s public defender, affirmed.
This came after Tate explained that she and her client were requesting to delay the hearing, saying: “We are respectfully requesting an adjournment in this matter, possibly three to four weeks that the court would allow.”
In the following moments, Judge Simpson examined Harris’s file, gaining confirmation that his license was still suspended, meaning that the defendant was in the process of committing a crime at that very moment.
“I don't even know why he would do that,” the judge pondered in amazement.
Unfortunately for the defendant, due to it being clear that he continued to drive on a suspended license - even after being brought to court over the matter - he needed to turn himself back for the crime.
Judge Simpson asserted: “The defendant is to turn himself into the Washington County jail by 6 p.m. today. Failure to turn himself in will result in a benchmark with no bond.”
While one instance of driving on a suspended license warrants the aforementioned 93 days in jail and $500, a subsequent offense could mean a full year in jail and $1000 in fines, meaning that Harris’s baffling mistake could end up being an incredibly costly one, as well.