It looks like we all owe one Michigan man a collective apology today. The internet got a pretty good laugh at Corey Harris’ expense last week when he dialed into court for a Zoom hearing on driving on a suspended license while driving in his car.
Judge Cedric Simpson, who was presiding over the case, was so shocked by Harris’ audacity that he immediately revoked his bond and ordered him to report to the county jail where he spent two days. But now that more facts about the case are coming to light, it seems that Harris wasn’t as reckless as we may have first thought.
In the end, the whole situation was based on an error in the paper trail.
In an interview, Harris told Ann Arbor’s ABC affiliate WXYZ that the attention has been unwanted.
“It’s very embarrassing. With the type of ties that I have with the church and the community, it’s very embarrassing,” he said, adding that he was driving to the doctor’s office to get help for his wife, who was dealing with a medical emergency at the time.
“What was I thinking? I was thinking about getting my wife medical help. That’s what I was thinking,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don’t care about all that.”
But according to Harris, his license should not have been suspended in the first place. He blamed the whole thing on a records error in the Secretary of State’s office. Harris’ license was suspended in 2010 for unpaid child support until a judge reversed the decision in 2022.
However, the records were never updated – even after Harris said he went back to the office to sort things out last week.
Harris’ advice to anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation – when it comes to updating your personal records, don’t just take a worker’s word for it, check for yourself.
“Always double-check behind these workers because they will say that they will do something, and they don’t do it,” Harris said.