A Michigan man who went viral last week in a video clip of a judge who noticed him driving while calling a virtual court hearing for his alleged suspended driver's license was the victim of an administrative error, according to reports.
Corey Harris, 44, attended the May 15 virtual hearing for an October traffic stop in Pittsfield Township, Michigan, USA Today reported.
In the clip, Judge Cedric Simpson appeared in disbelief as Harris drove while attending the hearing for a suspended driver's license.
“Mr. Harris, are you driving?” Simpson asked, to which Harris responded that he was behind the wheel.
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Defendant Corey Harris and Judge Cedric Simpson are seen during a virtual court hearing in Michigan. Harris had his driver's license suspension lifted in 2022, but an administrative error reportedly resulted in him never being cleared from the system. (History)
“Okay, maybe I don't understand something. This is a driving game while-suspended license [case]“Simpson told Harris’ public defender. “And he was just driving and he doesn't have a license.”
He then ordered that Harris' bond be revoked and ordered him to surrender to authorities at the Washtenaw County Jail at 6 pm that day, much to Harris' disbelief. The video clip circulated on the Internet and quickly spread like wildfire.
“With the kind of ties I have to the church and the community, it's very embarrassing,” Harris told WXYZ-TV of the widely viewed incident.
His driver's license was suspended in 2010 for nonpayment of child support, but a judge overturned the suspension in January 2022, the television station said.
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However, the Michigan Secretary of State's Office never received a clearance from Saginaw's Friend of the Court, reported WXYZ, which tracked the clerical error. That means the lifting of the suspension never took effect.
In the video clip, Harris told Simpson that he was pulling into the parking lot of a doctor's office for an appointment.
In a Zoom court hearing in Michigan, a defendant with an alleged suspended driver's license was caught driving. (History)
“What was I thinking? I was thinking about getting my wife medical help,” Harris told the news station. “That's what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don't care about all that.”
“You always have to double check behind these workers because they will say they will do something and they don't,” he added.
Harris said he spent two days in jail after the hearing after turning himself in.
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Khyla Craine, deputy legal director for the Michigan secretary of state, told the station that the process of getting a driver's license reinstated can be a complicated process.
“Sometimes it's simple as we in the Secretary of State's office didn't get clearance from the court that everything was done, but something happened on the wires and we needed to talk to the court to get clearance and clean it up for the resident.” Craine said.
