The judge’s discovery is a new twist in the story of a man driving on video during a driver’s license suspension hearing

Criminal justice

The judge’s discovery is a new twist in the story of a man driving on video during a driver’s license suspension hearing

Author: Debra Cassens Weiss

June 6, 2024 10:46 am CDT

A man accused of driving during a Zoom court hearing on a suspended license that caused a furore online is back behind bars. (Image from Shutterstock)

A man accused of driving during a Zoom court hearing on a suspended license that caused a furore online is back behind bars.

The latest defeat for 44-year-old Corey Harris came after a judge found that the defendant had never had a Michigan driver’s license and had an outstanding warrant from a previous driver’s license case.

The New York Post, WXYZ, Detroit News and Fox 2 Detroit are covering the hearing, and HuffPost deputy editor posted this story on Xformerly known as Twitter.

Judge J. Cedric Simpson of Ann Arbor, Michigan, said Harris had a current state-issued ID card that could only be used by people without a driver’s license.

“Let me get this straight,” Simpson said Wednesday, citing his research. Harris “has never had a Michigan driver’s license. Whenever. And it was never allowed in the other 49 states and commonwealths that make up this great union.”

Simpson said Harris also had an outstanding warrant from 2015 in a driving without a license case and ordered Harris returned to prison. According to the New York Post, if police don’t catch him in the previous case, Harris will be released on $500 bail.

The news marks another twist in a saga that began with reports of Harris’ May 15 court appearance. At the time, Simpson appeared surprised to see the defendant driving at the beginning of the Zoom hearing, even though he was charged with driving with a suspended license.

WXYZ then reported that another judge overturned Harris’ license suspension more than two years ago, but that decision was apparently not reported to the Michigan Secretary of State.

But on Tuesday, court officials said the suspension had not been lifted because Harris never paid the clerk’s fees, according to WXYZ.

According to recent reports, a previous judge had indeed ordered a driver’s license suspension due to unpaid child support, but there was no basis for the suspension. In fact, Simpson said, it was his Michigan driving privileges that were suspended, not his driver’s license.

In such cases, suspensions are still allowed because people would not be able to drive if they obtained a driver’s license, WXYZ explains.

Harris’ attorney, Dionne Webster-Cox, told WXYZ her client plans to get her driver’s license.

“This should be a lesson to all of us,” Webster-Cox said. “Mind your own business. Finally, mind your own business.”