Defendant From Viral Michigan Assault Hearing Fires Attorney During Livestream

A Michigan defendant said he wanted to fire his attorney during a Zoom hearing on March 16, after being arrested during a previous hearing that went viral when he was found to be in the same location as the plaintiff.

Defendant Coby James Harris, 21, who was accused of assault with intent to commit bodily harm, announced that he wished to fire his attorney during his Zoom hearing from jail, a stream of the hearing from Judge Jeffrey Middleton shows.

“I’d like to fire my attorney and represent myself for the rest of this case, please, because he hasn’t done anything that I’ve asked him,” Harris said. “I asked, I sent him a whole paper of questions to ask her and I asked him to come see me before this court date. He hasn’t. Paul Gipson’s a bum a** dude, and he should not practice this profession ‘cause he’s not doing anything for –”

Harris’s audio was then turned off by court administrators and was not turned back on. He was visibly upset as the prosecutor read the charges sought against him, which included several felonies, and left the room after an officer entered. In the stream Judge Middleton says Harris chose to remove himself.

The case previously made headlines when, during a preliminary examination for the alleged assault conducted over Zoom on March 2, authorities discovered that Harris, the defendant, and the alleged victim, Mary Lindsay, were in the same physical location. Harris was taken into custody and his bond was canceled. Credit: Judge Jeffrey Middleton via Storyful