FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A woman's mane of braids and her tapping on a podium during a bond hearing appeared to befuddle a Florida judge on Tuesday.
Vanessa Lee was arrested Monday in Fort Lauderdale. She is charged with two counts of burglary and one count of resisting an officer without violence.
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During her bond hearing, Lee was hunched over as Judge John Hurley read the charges against her.
"Miss Lee, could you raise your, could you raise your head up real quick so we could just see ya?" said Hurley.
When Lee moved upright, her long blonde braids covered her face.
"Ma'am, could you part your hair right up front so I can just see your face," said Hurley.
After one stroke, Lee's face was still covered.
"Okay, just pull it aside. Go ahead, ma'am. A little bit more ma'am. Just, could you part your hair for me. There you are! How you doing?" said Hurley as Lee's face emerged, beaming a large smile.
Hurley then asked her why she was tapping the podium.
"Okay, I don't know what the tapping is, ma'am. I only knew Morse code when I was in the Navy and forgot it," said Hurley. "Ma'am, really, I don't know Morse code. I know SOS but that's as far as it goes."
Lee never spoke during the bond hearing.
Lane was seen rummaging through a man's pickup truck, according to an arrest affidavit. When she was stopped, witnesses said Lee had the driver's Sunpass and phone charger in her hands.
Another witness told police he saw Lee trying to get into an AT&T work van, but it was locked.
When an officer arrived to question Lee, he stated that she gave the last name of a woman who lives in the neighborhood.