Corey Harris became a subject of ridicule last week after a viral video showed him driving and joining a court Zoom call though his driver’s license had allegedly been suspended.
And though the stunned judge ultimately ordered Harris to turn himself into the Washington County Jail later that day, it appears the 44-year-old should not have even been charged as a different judge actually ordered his license to be reinstated two years ago.
According to WXYZ, the suspension of Harris’ license stemmed from a child support case with a Saginaw County Friend of the Court. But a judge in January 2022 lifted the suspension and ordered his license to be reinstated to enable him to drive again.
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“They were supposed to have been lifted it two years ago, but they didn’t,” Harris told the news outlet.
The Michigan Secretary of State’s office said the friend of the court never sent them the court’s 2022 clearance. Harris, who ended up spending two days in jail, said he was driving his wife to see a doctor as her medical condition was aggravating.
“What was I thinking? I was thinking about about getting my wife medical help. That’s what I was thinking,” Harris said when he was asked about his thoughts as he made the court appearance on video. “I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don’t care about all that.”
Harris’ act of being seen behind the wheel prompted a shocked reaction from Washtenaw County Judge J. Cedric Simpson. “Mr. Harris, are you driving?” Simpson asked in the video, according to footage posted by MLive.com.
“I’m pulling into my doctor’s office actually,” Harris was heard saying in the video. “So maybe I don’t understand something. This is a driving with a suspended license [case],” Simpson said to Harris’ lawyer after he parked. “And he was just driving. And he didn’t have a license.”
Harris’s attorney attempted to explain that those were merely “the charges,” but Simpson retorted, “No, I’m looking at his record. He doesn’t have a license.” “I don’t even know why he would do that,” Simpson said before revoking Harris’s bond and sentencing him to jail time.
“Oh my God,” Harris was heard saying. Following his release from jail, Harris told WXYZ that he returned to the Secretary of State to find a solution to his case. He also described the incident as “very embarrassing.”
“With the type of ties that I have with the church and the community, it’s very embarrassing,” he added.
The 44-year-old also shared a word of advice: “Always double-check behind these workers because they will say that they will do something and they don’t do it.”
