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Defendant without a driver’s license drove car at hearing

Even the judge was stunned: during a hearing in a US court, the accused, who did not have a driver's license, turned himself in while driving his car.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com – annacovic)

A man in the USA joined a court hearing for driving without a license via video - visibly driving a car. Judge Cedric Simpson in Ann Arbor, Michigan, first had to make sure he could believe his eyes, as can be seen on a video published by US media on Wednesday. Simpson answered Simpson's question as to whether the accused was actually behind the wheel and driving a car in the affirmative.

"Yes, I'm driving to the doctor right now. Just give me a second to park." The incident therefore took place in mid-May.

Judge stunned
The video showed the judge waiting in bewilderment until the car was parked. When the man's public defender asked for the case to be adjourned, he was stunned: "Okay, maybe I don't understand something here, but this is a case of driving without a license, and he was just driving and didn't have a license?" Simpson turned to the defense attorney. "That's correct," she said in response.

You can watch the video of the hearing here:

It was only at that moment that the defendant, who was always in frame on the video, appeared to understand the situation and said into the camera, "Um." It was not revealed why his driver's license had been revoked in the first place.

Two days in prison
The judge then revoked the man's bail and ordered him to turn himself in at the Washtenaw County jail until the evening. The US broadcaster CBS wrote that the man was released after two days in jail. The next hearing is now scheduled for June 5.