A Michigan man who went viral last week for a video clip of a judge who noticed him driving while on a call to a virtual courtroom for a suspended driver’s license case was reportedly the victim of a clerical error.
Corey Harris, 44, appeared at a May 15 online hearing regarding a traffic stop that took place in October in Pittsfield Township, Michigan, according to USA Today.
Judge Cedric Simpson appeared incredulous as the footage showed Harris driving while attending a hearing on his driver’s license suspension.
“Mr. Harris, are you driving?” Simpson asked, and Harris replied that he was driving.
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Defendant Corey Harris and Judge Cedric Simpson appear during a virtual court hearing in Michigan. Harris’ driver’s license suspension was lifted in 2022 but was reportedly not removed from the system due to a clerical error. (With a story)
“Okay, maybe there’s something I don’t understand. This is driving-License suspension [case]”He was just driving and he didn’t have a license,” Simpson told Harris’ public defender.
The judge then revoked Harris’ bail and ordered him to report to authorities at the Washtenaw County Jail by 6pm that day, much to Harris’ disbelief. The video clip went viral on the internet and quickly went viral.
“This is extremely embarrassing given the ties I have to the church and the community,” Harris told WXYZ-TV about the widely publicized incident.
His driver’s license was suspended in 2010 for unpaid child support, but a judge revoked the suspension in January 2022, the TV station reported.
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But according to a WXYZ report that uncovered a clerical error, the Michigan Secretary of State’s office never received permission from the Saginaw Friend of the Court, meaning the lifting of the suspension never took effect.
In the video clip, Harris told Simpson he had parked in the doctor’s office parking lot for an appointment.
During a Zoom court hearing in Michigan, the defendant was allegedly caught driving while his driver’s license was suspended. (With a story)
“What was I thinking? All I was thinking was getting my wife medical attention,” Harris told the news station. “That’s what I was thinking. I didn’t think about my license being suspended. I don’t care about that.”
“Always double check their backs because these workers say they will do something but never actually do anything,” he added.
Harris said he turned himself in after the hearing and spent two days in jail.
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Kayla Klain, deputy attorney general for the Michigan Secretary of State, told the department the process for reinstating a driver’s license can be complicated.
“Sometimes it’s simple because the Secretary of State’s office hasn’t gotten permission from the court that it’s all done, but there was something wrong with the wires and they had to talk to the court to get permission and clean it up for the residents,” Crane said.
