Michigan driver whose virtual hearing went viral never had a driver’s license, judge says

A man who went viral after driving during a virtual court proceeding over his suspended license never had one — from any state, ever, a judge said at a hearing Wednesday.

Corey Harris appeared back in Washtenaw County Court on Wednesday, wearing a yellow shirt that said “trust me” on the front, following a video of his hearing on May 15 – which showed Harris participating in a Zoom hearing via driving without a driver’s license behind the wheel of a car – went viral on social media.

Wednesday’s apparition came after local outlet WXYZ Detroit reported on whether Harris should have been charged with a misdemeanor stemming from a traffic stop in October 2023 because, as the outlet reported, the suspension of Harris’ driving privileges in the state was lifted in 2022.

But that’s not exactly what happened, as Judge Cedric Simpson pointed out in court and as Angela Benander, director of communications and media relations for the Michigan Department of State, explained in a phone interview.

Dionne Webster-Cox, the attorney representing Harris, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

At the start of Harris’ hearing on Wednesday, Simpson addressed comments – some he said were from Harris – stating that the court acted “based on some kind of faulty or flawed information,” which led the court to review Simpson’s earlier decision.

Harris had his driving privileges in Michigan suspended for the first time in 2021 after failing to pay child support, Benander said. Simpson said that if Harris had a driver’s license in another U.S. state, he would be allowed to drive in the rest of the country, but not in Michigan.

But Harris never had a license, Simpson said. Not in Michigan, nor in any other US state.

Later in 2021, new “top-to-bottom laws” in Michigan lifted license suspensions for categories that included child support cases, Benander said. Because of the new laws, Harris was eligible to have his driving privileges reinstated.

In Michigan, someone without a driver’s license can still have a driving history to indicate suspensions, as in Harris’ case. Benander explained that if Harris had attempted to obtain a driver’s license while the suspension was on his driving record, he would not have been able to do so.

However, reinstatement of driving privileges in Michigan does not happen automatically, Benander explained, noting that Harris has not completed the necessary steps with the Friend of the Court in Saginaw County in 2022 to remove the suspension from his driving record.

This “required Mr. Harris to do something,” Simpson said. “He didn’t do it.”

Benander said that normally the defendant would have been notified that his suspension was eligible to be lifted and that he should report to the Friend of the Court. In most cases, they would have to pay a fine to receive a release form that they would have to present to the Secretary of State’s office within 10 days to have the suspension removed from their records.

The state of Michigan has no record of Harris doing this, Benander said, adding that it is not, and never has been, the Friend of the Court’s responsibility to transmit those records to the Secretary of State.

Simpson said the Friend of the Court “did nothing wrong” in Harris’ case. Simpson also said that because Harris did not do what he was supposed to, the Friend of the Court was under no obligation to send anything on his behalf to the Secretary of State.

Simpson added that pointing the finger at the Secretary of State is also inappropriate in this case because they “did what they were supposed to do.“

“Everything was fine. There was no error. By anyone. It was a failure of Mr. Harris to do certain things,” Simpson said.

Simpson said Harris paid the reinstatement fee last week and that the offices did what they were supposed to do, sending out the forms “immediately.” He added that the Secretary of State lifted the suspension on Harris’ driving record.

Benander confirmed Wednesday that Harris’ reinstatement was issued Monday and her suspension was lifted.

The judge acknowledged that the process could be complicated and stated that it was “no one’s fault” except that Harris did not pay the fee or take the steps required of him.

Simpson also said that Harris lied when he was asked about trying to resolve the situation between Oct. traffic stop and a trial date of May 15.

The judge said Harris indicated in response to a question outside the courtroom that he was bedridden because of an accident and could not get to the Secretary of State’s office during that time.

“That’s not true,” Simpson said, before asking Harris on Wednesday where he was on Dec. 28.

Harris told the judge he was “prepared.”

“You were in the Secretary of State’s office,” Simpson retorted. Harris was renewing her Michigan State ID, Simpson said.

The judge said he knew Harris never had a driver’s license because records show he “religiously, every year” renewed his state ID at the Secretary of State’s office, and in Michigan, a the resident cannot have a license and an identity document.

Simpson said he wished Harris had been truthful from the beginning and that, in that case, the court would have helped him correct the error and get him a license.

Even if Harris had had his driving privileges reinstated before the October traffic stop that led to the misdemeanor that landed him in court last month and Wednesday because he never had a driver’s license, he still would have been charged of driving without a license.

Prosecutors noted in court Wednesday that, according to body camera footage, Harris twice said during that traffic stop that he did not have a valid license.

Webster-Cox said in court Wednesday that Harris is now in the process of obtaining a proper driver’s license and that her permit test is coming up.

“He is working diligently to take the necessary steps to obtain his driver’s license,” she said.