Kimberly Carroll joined a Zoom hearing at the 33rd District Court to discuss her unpaid debt of nearly $2,000 remotely. Judge Michael K McNally told Carroll she could not be driving, and he later entered a default judgment with the note that the defendant was not available at the time and then was driving a car and told the court she was not. The judge also asked Carroll 'do you think I'm stupid?' after she logged in while driving, according to reports.
Carroll initially joined the call on audio only, labeled as 'iPhone', and insisted she was sitting in some room or something. After being asked to turn on her camera, she was shown in the driver's seat wearing a seat belt, but she insisted to the judge that she was only a passenger in the vehicle. Judge McNally insisted he would not hear the case while the defendant was traveling in a vehicle, according to reports.
Carroll initially said she was on the left side of the car, then changed her answer to right side. A clip of the Zoom call shows Carroll sat in the front seat with her safety belt coming from her left side. Judge McNally demanded to see the driver of the car, to which Carroll insisted she had to ask their permission, according to reports.
Carroll said she would pull over and explained she was going out of town for a family member, adding she didn't know she wasn't allowed to give evidence while on the road. Judge McNally lambasted Carroll for her dishonesty as he got up from his chair, according to reports.
The revealing moment came when Carroll is shown on video getting out of her car from the driver's side, confirming the judge's suspicions. In a statement, Carroll admitted she had made a poor judgment and said she should have pulled over when calling into the court. She expressed frustration that her case had been turned into a viral spectacle and her conduct made a public example.
The exact amount of Carroll's unpaid debt remains unspecified beyond nearly $2,000, and it is unclear what specific legal consequences, beyond the default judgment, she faces for her actions. Whether Carroll was actually driving the car at the time of the Zoom call or just seated in the driver's seat has not been confirmed, and the jurisdiction or specific court where this hearing took place is not detailed in available reports. Additionally, it is unknown whether there are any official rules or policies from the court regarding remote participation in hearings while in a vehicle.