In an irony so great that this video could not help but go viral, a Michigan man charged with driving without a license appeared in court via video while driving his car.
But what happened in Corey Harris' courtroom — and the plethora of memes, jokes, fan art and commentary that have spawned since the May 15 video circulated last week — is more complicated than it appears.
Two years ago, a judge in another Michigan county vacated the suspension of Harris' driver's license, which had expired during a child support case.
The revelation, first reported by WXYZ Detroit, gave some context to the comical exchange between Corey Harris and Washtenaw County Judge J. Cedric Simpson and drew attention to the diverse and potentially confusing bureaucratic process for getting a driver's license reinstated in Michigan.
According to WXYZ, Harris' license was suspended in 2010 in connection with a child support case in Saginaw County, Michigan. In January 2022, Saginaw County Judge James T. Borchardt ordered the license suspension revoked, according to court records.
But the suspension was never lifted, and the reasons for this remain a matter of debate. Harris, 44, was charged with driving while suspended in Pittsfield Township in October.
At a pretrial hearing in the case in Ann Arbor on May 15, Harris appeared before Judge Simpson via Zoom on his way to a doctor's office. The surprised judge revoked his bail and ordered Harris to jail. Harris told Detroit TV station WXYZ that he was held for two days.
Harris told the news station he was driving his wife to a doctor's appointment.
“I was thinking about getting my wife medical assistance,” Harris told the station in a phone interview last week. “That's what I was thinking. I didn't think about my license being suspended. I'm not concerned about that.”
Now, back to the question of why the license suspension was not revoked.
Saginaw County Chief Judge Julie A. Gaffkay said in a statement Tuesday that the judge's order revoking the license suspension “will be effective only upon payment of the license revocation fee to the Saginaw County Clerk's Office and the reissue fee to the Secretary of State.”
Judge Gaffkay's office said court records show Harris didn't pay the fine until May 22nd of last month.
The Michigan Department of State said Tuesday that it had not been notified of the Saginaw County judge's order lifting Harris' suspension.
In an on-camera interview with WXYZ Detroit on Tuesday, Harris blamed the Saginaw County court system for his misfortune, saying he was never advised about paying the fee or the rest of the steps in the process.
Speaking in an interview with his new attorney, Dionne Webster Cox, he added that he was shocked when the officer who charged him in Washtenaw County in October told him his driver's license was still suspended.
“I looked at him like, 'Are you kidding me?' Because this whole thing was supposed to have been resolved by now,” Harris said.
The complicated process for getting a Michigan driver's license reinstated became clear to the Michigan Department of State after a new law went into effect in late 2021 that lifts the driver's license suspension for thousands of people in certain cases, including for child support payments.
In response, officials have opened a free clinic called “Path to Recovery” to help people whose suspensions have been lifted under the law navigate the process.
It was not immediately clear whether Harris' suspension had been lifted as a result of the new law.
Ms. Harris' court appearance took on a unique twist last week when the video surfaced, becoming the subject of news outlets (including The New York Times) and guests like Stephen A. Smith, who spent several minutes blasting Ms. Harris on his podcast.
Harris spoke to a WXYZ reporter on Tuesday about his reaction to the video.
“I've been followed, laughed at and ridiculed,” he said.
“I'm not even on the internet anymore,” Harris added, saying she had deleted her social media accounts. Attempts to reach Harris on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Another pretrial hearing on a charge of driving on a suspended license in Washtenaw County is scheduled for Wednesday.
