Overview

• Asja Outerbridge, facing a misdemeanor charge for an open alcohol container as a passenger, logged into her June 10 Zoom hearing more than two hours early and donned a bathrobe in the waiting room.
• During the session’s opening moments, she began preparing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her sick three-year-old daughter, prompting Judge Sean Perkins to reprimand her attire and multitasking.
• Perkins removed Outerbridge from the Zoom call within minutes, then reinstated her more than two hours later, accused her of rolling her eyes and set a trial date.
• Outerbridge apologized for being unprepared and poorly dressed and has questioned whether virtual hearings remain appropriate now that emergency pandemic rules have ended.
• Footage of the streamed hearing has drawn attention to etiquette standards and logistical challenges in remote justice proceedings at Michigan’s 36th District Court.