A defendant in Woodhaven, Michigan arrived late to her Zoom court hearing while driving a car. Kimberly Carroll was contesting a debt default worth a few thousand dollars when Judge Michael McNally of the 33rd District Court ordered her to turn her camera on.
What Carroll did next is the reason this story matters: she lied about it. The sequence, late arrival, remote attendance, active driving, and then the denial, escalated a minor civil hearing into a judicial confrontation that McNally did not let slide.
The full account details exactly how McNally responded, what Carroll said to explain herself, and what consequences followed. The specific exchange is worth reading because it documents how courts are navigating the boundaries of remote attendance rules that were written fast and tested slowly.
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