A lot of people were clowning Michigan motorist Corey Harris, who went viral recently after he joined a virtual hearing to answer for a charge of driving with a suspended license while he was visibly still driving with a suspended license.
Washtenaw County Judge Cedric Simpson couldn’t believe Harris had the audacity to show up on camera while driving, and he revoked the defendant’s bond and ordered him to turn himself in by 6 p.m. that day.
NEW: Man with a suspended license joins court Zoom call while driving in his car.
This is the funniest video I’ve seen in a long time.
Judge Cedric Simpson can be seen dumbfounded after defendant Corey Harris dialed into the meeting from his car.
Simpson: “Mr. Harris, are… pic.twitter.com/ydOKIMD7Ie
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 29, 2024
Harris has since spoken out about how “embarrassing” the incident was, but now, folks are questioning whether he should have been put in the position he was in the first place considering his license shouldn’t have been suspended at the time he was charged.
“It’s very embarrassing,” told 7 News Detroit. “With the type of ties that I have with the church and the community, it’s very embarrassing.”
When asked what he was thinking calling into the virtual hearing while driving, he explained that his wife needed to get to the hospital and that was all he was concerned with.
“What was I thinking? I was thinking about getting my wife medical help. That’s what I was thinking,” Harris said. “I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don’t care about all that.”
Then the 44-year-old dropped the bombshell that added a layer to his story folks likely hadn’t considered: his license shouldn’t have been suspended in the first place.
From 7 News:
“They were supposed to have been lifted it two years ago, but they didn’t,” Harris said.
Secretary of State records show Harris’ license was first suspended in 2010 for unpaid child support in Saginaw County.
Then in 2022, court records show that a judge rescinded that suspension, allowing Harris to drive again. But it appears that information never got to the Secretary of State where even as of Thursday afternoon, Harris’ license is still listed as suspended — the same records police and the judge were going by.
Harris spent two days in jail. And Thursday, Harris said he went back to the Secretary of State to try to resolve the matter.
Harris said, “Always double-check behind these workers because they will say that they will do something and they don’t do it,” Harris said.
So, Harris spent two years not legally being able to drive—which can upend a person’s life and ability to support themself—because legal officials weren’t on their job.
This is Corey Harris. The world owes him an apology. Corey went viral because of a Zoom court hearing for driving on a suspended license charge. He was driving during the Zoom court hearing which left the judge and world in disbelief. What’s not told is that Corey was innocent… pic.twitter.com/1ErhsJ2mKs
— BIG MALCOLM X PLAY COUSIN (@Omowale99949437) June 2, 2024
Maybe the people on social media who were dragging Harris really do owe him an apology.