The Michigan man who went viral after joining a Zoom court hearing for his suspended license while driving had his license suspension lifted by a judge in 2022, court records show.
The video showed Corey Harris, who was attending the May 15 hearing for charges related to a traffic stop, was on camera driving his vehicle while asking the judge to “just give [him] one second” while he parked. The judge, who appeared shocked that Harris was driving with a suspended license on video, responded by revoking his bond and ordering him to report to the Washtenaw County Jail that evening.
However, a Saginaw County judge ordered that Harris’s license suspension be lifted more than two years ago, according to court records.
“They were supposed to have lifted it two years ago, but they didn’t,” Harris said.
Harris’s license, which was suspended in 2010 for reasons relating to a child support case, had not been reinstated, despite the judge’s order. Harris had failed to pay the $125 fee required for reinstatement at the time of the hearing.
“You have to take that step to be reinstated. It’s like you have to sign a check to make it good,” Jeffrey Randa, a Michigan-based attorney, told the Washington Post. “Even if a judge orders the suspension to be lifted, it doesn’t take effect until he pays the reinstatement fee.”
Whether Harris knew about the fee is “unclear,” according to the Washington Post. “Courts often drop the ball all over the place, so nobody might have told him,” Randa said.
Harris, who was subject to a large amount of online ridicule after the video went viral, told WXYZ-TV that he was “thinking about getting his wife medical help” at the time of the hearing.
“I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don’t care about all that,” he said.
Harris has since deleted his social media accounts, saying “I’ve been assaulted, I’ve been followed, I’ve been laughed at, I’ve been ridiculed, I have been disrespected.”
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“It’s very embarrassing, and with the type of ties that I have with the church and the community, it’s very embarrassing,” Harris said. “Always double-check behind these workers because they will say that they will do something and then they don’t do it.”
Harris’s next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, according to the Washington Post.
