A Michigan man who made headlines after a judge found him driving with a suspended license while attending an online court hearing via Zoom is now being cleared of charges following an apparent clerical error.
Corey Harris, 44, appeared for an online hearing on May 15 on charges related to an October traffic stop in Pittsfield Township, Michigan. Footage of the hearing quickly spread online last week, with many expressing disbelief that Harris would be driving a vehicle with a suspended license in front of Judge Cedric Simpson.
After Judge Simpson found out about Harris’ actions, he revoked his bail and ordered him to report to the Washtenaw County Jail by 6 p.m. that same day. What neither Judge Simpson nor anyone in the courtroom knew was that another judge had revoked Harris’ license suspension in January 2022, according to Saginaw County court records obtained by USA Today on Monday.
Here’s what we know:
Why didn’t the court know that Harris’ license had been reinstated?
According to court records, Harris’ license was suspended during a now-settled child support case with a friend of the court in Saginaw County, but it was later ordered reinstated.
The reason Simpson and no one in the courtroom knew about the reinstatement is because the Michigan Secretary of State’s office had not received permission from the Friends of the Saginaw County Courthouse, reported WXYZ-TV, the outlet that first uncovered the clerical error in the court records.
Without the authorization, Harris’ license revocation would not have officially gone into effect, according to the Detroit-based TV station.
USA Today reached out to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office and Simpson’s office but did not receive a response. The Washtenaw County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Harris in the ongoing litigation, was closed at the time of USA Today’s call.
“I don’t know why he did that.”
Judge Simpson’s ruling came as Harris was driving his ailing wife to a doctor, WXYZ-TV reported.
“I have no idea why he would do something like that,” Simpson said of Harris in the now-viral video clip.
Harris’ mouth dropped open as he heard Simpson give the order to send him to prison.
WXYZ-TV spoke with Harris and asked her what she was thinking during the now-famous hearing.
“What was I thinking? I was just thinking about getting my wife medical attention. That’s it,” Harris told the TV station. “I didn’t think about the fact that my license was suspended. Who cares?”
“It’s so embarrassing.”
After the hearing, Harris followed Simpson’s orders to turn himself in and spent two days in jail. Though he served his sentence, Harris told WXYZ-TV that his license suspension “was supposed to be lifted two years ago, but it wasn’t lifted.”
Harris called the situation “deeply embarrassing.”
Kayla Klain, assistant attorney general for the Michigan Secretary of State, told the department that the process for reinstating a driver’s license “can be complicated.”
“Sometimes it’s as simple as there being something wrong with the power lines and we at the Secretary of State’s office didn’t get permission from the court to say it was all done and we needed to talk to the court and get permission to clean it up for the residents,” Crane said.
