Corey Harris "never had a Michigan driver's license." A chronology of the case

The case of a Michigan man who went viral during a Zoom court hearing while driving continues after a judge announced Wednesday that there was a warrant out for the 44-year-old’s arrest and that Corey Harris had never had a driver’s license, only an identification card.

Harris returned Wednesday to the same Washtenaw County courtroom where he went viral on May 15, but this time he had a new attorney and appeared in person. During the latest hearing, Judge Cedric Simpson made the shocking announcement that Harris “has never held a Michigan driver’s license, ever!”

“(Harris) has never had a license in the other 49 states and Commonwealths that make up this great union,” Simpson said during the hearing. “He has never had a license.”

Harris’ first hearing in May sparked a social media furor because it appeared he was driving despite having a suspended license, as Simpson and the court believed.

This is how it came to this point in Harris’s case.

Corey Harris appears to be driving with a suspended license during the May 15 hearing

Harris, who told WXYZ-TV he was on his way to the doctor with his wife at the time of the now-viral hearing, appeared in Simpson’s courtroom via Zoom on May 15 on charges related to a traffic stop.

When Simpson reviewed Harris’s records during the hearing, he noticed that Harris was driving without a license.

“I don’t even know why he would do that,” Simpson said before revoking Harris’ bail and ordering him to surrender at the Washtenaw County Jail by 6 p.m. that day.

Harris turned himself in and spent two days in jail.

Saginaw County court records show Corey Harris’ driver’s license suspension was lifted in 2022

After Harris was in jail and people were making fun of him online, a local reporter from WXYZ-TV found Saginaw County court records that told a different story.

Documents also obtained by USA TODAY show that a Saginaw County Friend of the Court judge ordered Harris’ driver’s license suspension to be lifted in January 2022 after a child support case was settled.

Simpson and no one in the courtroom knew about the elevator because the Michigan Secretary of State’s office never received approval from the Saginaw County Friend of the Court two years ago, WXYZ-TV reported.

In an interview with WXYZ-TV, Harris said he believes the driver’s license suspension “should have been lifted two years ago.”

“It’s very embarrassing,” Harris told the television station about the situation.

Officials say Corey Harris did not follow the procedure to revoke his driver’s license in 2022

The Michigan Secretary of State’s office told USA TODAY on Wednesday that Harris did not follow proper procedures to have his driver’s license suspended.

When the Saginaw County Amica of the Court lifted Harris’s license suspension, Harris had 10 days to submit a form to the Michigan branch of the Secretary of State’s office as proof of reinstatement, said Angela Benander, a spokeswoman for the state office.

If someone does not turn the form in to the Secretary of State within 10 days, it expires. In this case, the person must contact the Friend of Court again to obtain a new proof document, according to Benander.

“The friend of the court does not send the order directly to the secretary of state,” Benander said, adding that the required evidence had not arrived by the time of Harris’s court hearing in May.

According to Benander, the office received Harris’ certificate of reinstatement on Monday. Harris still needs to complete the written and practical driving tests and pay the usual $25 fee to obtain a valid driver’s license, she added.

A judicial assistant to the chief judge of Saginaw County District Court told WXYZ-TV on Tuesday that the Friend of the Court never sent a permit to the Secretary of State because Harris never paid a fee to forward it to the clerk’s office.

Corey Harris never had a driver’s license, says judge

Simpson’s announcement during Wednesday’s hearing surprised many, even Harris’ new attorney Dionne Webster-Cox, who said she was “shocked,” according to WXYZ-TV.

“This should be a lesson to all of us,” Webster-Cox told the television station. “Mind your business. And at the end of the day, mind your business.”

In addition to Harris never having had a driver’s license, Simpson stated that there was a warrant for his arrest stemming from a 2015 driving without a license case. Harris was arrested and taken back to the Washtenaw County Jail.

“The blame should be placed on the person he was staring at in the mirror,” Simpson said of Harris. “He didn’t do what he should have done.”

Webster-Cox said after the hearing that Harris wanted to get his driver’s license and had a meeting with the Secretary of State’s office on Thursday. Benander confirmed Thursday that Harris did indeed go to one of the Secretary of State’s offices.

How can Corey Harris be arrested for driving without a license when he doesn’t have a driver’s license?

In Michigan, when a person is arrested or charged with driving without a license, their “privilege to drive” is revoked, Benander told USA TODAY.

“In Michigan, a record on the Secretary of State’s traffic record can result in a suspension of your driving privileges, regardless of whether you have a driver’s license or not,” she said.

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