The way you present yourself to the courtroom can have a major impact on your case, even if it shouldn’t. You expect that you’ll always get a fair trial but history has proven that may not always be the case. A woman in Michigan took things one step further than ‘dressing down’ at her court hearing when she started to assemble a sandwich (yes, actually) during her court hearing. The judge in the case was less than forgiving, as to be expected.
Asja Outerbridge had to appear before a Detroit judge for a misdemeanor after allegedly having an open container of alcohol as a passenger in a vehicle. According to Asja, however, the weeks leading up to the hearing were confusing because she had multiple court dates. She was under the impression the hearing started at a later time. Instead of the 1 p.m. start time she was expecting, it was actually 9 a.m. So, she hopped on last minute and was stuck in a Zoom waiting room.
When the Michigan hearing started, Judge Sean Perkins was astounded to see Asja was wearing a bathrobe. Perkins asked her why she was late and Asja explained, but then he noticed something more peculiar. The judge was surprised to see Asja was scooping peanut butter out of a jar and trying to assemble a sandwich. He told her, “Put whatever you’re trying to prepare down.”
Instead of immediately reacting and trying to prepare as professionally as possible, Asja panned the phone over to her daughter and told the judge she was trying to make her a sandwich. Perkins then said, “You got to put your properly dress on, I don’t do the robe.”
Asja showed him she did, indeed, have a shirt on under the robe. She was trying to make food for her daughter because she was home sick from school. The Judge then replied, “Miss Outerbridge, I’m sorry that your daughter is sick, but again, you are in court, OK? And we’re going to treat it as such.”
The Michigan mother was adamant that she was prepared even though her focus was elsewhere. However, Judge Perkins ended the call. Since then, Asja has said she was having a “mommy day” due to her daughter being sick. Being disheveled is understandable. She said, however, “I do genuinely, with a serious face, apologize to the judge.”
What a goofy interaction. All jokes aside, I feel for her. When my kids are sick, I’m usually not too concerned with how I look. I just want to see them get better. Ultimately, it could’ve been avoided had the dates been conveyed clearly enough.
