She video-called into court from her car and denied driving — one question from the judge left her stammering
'You think I am stupid?' the judge asked, exposing the defendant
On March 25, a courtroom hearing turned into a heated discussion about online session etiquette when the judge caught the defendant driving while on the Zoom call. The defendant, Kimberly Carroll, a woman from Metro Detroit, was scheduled to attend a meeting in the 33rd District Court in Woodhaven before Judge Michael K. McNally. But things took an ugly turn when Carroll not only joined in late while driving but also kept lying about it until Judge McNally caught her in the act with just a simple question. You can watch the entire courtroom drama on The Independent (@theindependent).
Fox2 Detroit reported that Carroll was scheduled to join the online court session for a financial matter. But instead of presenting herself respectfully, she decided to join the Zoom call while driving. As soon as Carroll switched on the camera, Judge McNally caught her driving and immediately warned her. "You cannot be driving, ma'am — what are you doing?" he asked, shocked by the defendant's casual approach. However, instead of accepting her fault, Carroll lied about being in the passenger seat. In fact, she also lied about heading out of town due to a family emergency and told Judge McNally that she would pull over to the side of the road to continue the session. "Am I crazy — or does it look like you are driving?" the judge asked again, giving yet another opportunity to Carroll to speak the truth. But she continued lying as if her life depended on it.
Frustrated, Judge McNally played along and cross-questioned to expose her. He asked Carrol, "What side of the car are you on?" and the defendant accidentally admitted, "I am on the left-hand side." Upon realizing that she had accidentally spilled the truth, Carroll tried to cover it up, but she forgot who she was dealing with. "The seat belt is coming off the driver's side… Let me see the driver," Judge McNally said, leaving the defendant sweating hard. Despite knowing that she was fully exposed, Carroll tried one last time to cover up, saying she could only show the driver after taking his permission. "You think I am that stupid?" the judge asked, making Carroll regret her every word. He then concluded the hearing after asking the clerk to note that the defendant wasn't available at the time and later lied to the court about driving a car.
"You've got an attitude with you, I'll tell you that. I am not putting up with your nonsense; good luck to you," the judge told Carroll. Soon after the moment went viral, Carroll released a statement, admitting her fault. She even apologized for her actions and said, "I am human. I made a mistake, I own that mistake, and I am willing to accept the consequences. But I hope people will also consider whether the response has been about accountability, or about turning a moment into something far bigger than it needed to be."
A study of court staff (by Barbara Andraka-Christou, Danielle D. Atkins, M. H. Clark, Brandon Del Pozo, and Bradley Ray) found participant engagement and willingness to talk are lower in online hearings than in-person sessions. However, another survey of 1,356 clients from 121 courts (by the National Center for State Courts) found that clients felt more comfortable attending virtual court sessions than in-person court. At the same time, the survey found clients were less likely to feel the judge knew their case well during online court sessions. Whether in-person or virtual court hearings, defendants are expected to maintain some level of decency that Carroll didn't comply with.
Meanwhile, people online had a great laugh about the blatant lie; for instance, @dexanexa commented, "I don't understand this. Why would she even attempt to lie and say she is a passenger while there is a camera on her showing her driving? Did she forget how cameras work or something?" @niche4sure said, "Did anybody notice how she never asked the driver to pull over, but the vehicle just magically happened to pull over by itself?" Similarly, @justsayingp shared, "I love watching bold-faced liars getting caught in their lies, and getting caught by a judge makes it 10x better."
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