Judge confronts woman driving during a now-viral virtual court hearing
Judge confronts woman driving during a now-viral virtual court hearing
Saleen Martin, USA TODAY Fri, March 27, 2026 at 5:36 PM UTC
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“Am I crazy?”
It’s not a question one would expect a judge to say during an online court hearing, but a Detroit judge found himself wondering that recently when he caught a defendant driving and lying about it.
The judge, Honorable Michael McNally of Michigan’s 33rd District Court, posed the question while overseeing a case on Wednesday, March 25. In the video, which has gone viral on social media, defendant Kimberly Carroll can be seen driving during a hearing involving collections agency LVNV Funding.
“You cannot be driving, ma’am,” McNally said. “I’m not hearing cases with people driving or as passengers in cars.”
Video shows judge calling out woman for driving during court hearing‘You think I’m that stupid?’
A woman in Woodhaven was accused of lying to a judge after joining a Zoom court hearing late and from her car while driving.
Although the woman denied driving the vehicle herself, the judge wasn’t buying it.
“Am I crazy, or does it not look like you’re driving that car?” he asked.
He later put his investigative skills to use and got to the bottom of it.
“Let me see the driver,” he demanded. When Carroll couldn’t show a driver, he noted for the court that Carroll lied about driving during the hearing.
When USA TODAY contacted Judge McNally and Michigan’s 33rd District Court on Friday, March 27, the court declined to comment.
First, the judge asked Carroll, the defendant and alleged driver, to identify herself because her name wasn’t displayed on screen. According to Carroll, she had been in an online waiting room and was having trouble adding her display name to her account.
By the time she turned her camera on, the judge had already issued a default judgment requiring her to pay the plaintiff, LVNV Funding, he said.
Online court records reviewed by USA TODAY show she has to pay LVNV Funding $1,921.85.
As soon as the judge saw her, he picked up on her being in the driver’s seat. When Carroll denied multiple times, the judge asked which side of the car she was on.
“I’m on the left hand side,” Carroll said, which the judge also called out.
“How would you be on the left hand side if you’re a passenger in the front seat?” the judge asked. “Am I missing something?”
According to the judge, whether she was a passenger or not, it’s not his protocol to hear cases when those involved are in vehicles. He also pointed out that the woman’s seat belt was coming from the driver’s side.
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“You’re lying to me,” he said, asking to see the driver.
Carroll then said she had to ask the driver for permission to show them on camera, then got out of the car. By then, she was cooked.
“You weren’t on the driver’s side,” he said.
'My imaginary driver will pull over': Social media reacts to viral video
The viral video has led some social media users to crack jokes.
"My imaginary driver will pull over," wrote one user on a YouTube clip of the exchange shared by Michigan television station WPBN.
Some on Facebook pointed out some of the woman's tells, or how they knew she was driving.
"A passenger that keeps looking in the rear view mirror, in the driver's seat...", wrote one user.
Others pointed out that she gave herself away when the judge asked her to pull over.
"'I'm not driving,'" wrote a Facebook user. "Then, two seconds later …'I will pull over.'"
And when the judge pointed out that her seat belt position was proof Carroll was driving, one user had a comical solution.
"She was better off saying she was in the UK," the user joked. Another user chimed in, "Judge "let me see the driver" Her face looked like she saw a ghost lol"
Another similar situation also in Michigan went viral back in 2024
Similar situations have unfolded in recent years, including a May 2024 incident where Michigan man Corey Harris attended a virtual hearing for charges related to a traffic stop while driving. Social media users also got a laugh back in 2021 when Texas lawyer Rod Ponton struggled to remove a cat filter during an online court hearing.
"I don't know how to remove it," Ponton said at the time. "I'm here live; I'm not a cat."
Contributing: Kelly Tyko and Emily Vetter, USA TODAY
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s trending team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Viral video shows woman being called out by judge during hearing
Source: “AOL Breaking”
