'It Was a Great Day,' Says Lawyer for Man Who Can Now Drive Legally Months After Viral Suspended License Hearing

Mar. 15, 2025

Corey Harris pictured (left) at his viral May 15 hearing and pictured (right) in his license issued in July.Photo:Honorable Judge Cedric Simpson via Storyful; Dionne Webster-Cox

Honorable Judge Cedric Simpson via Storyful; Dionne Webster-Cox

Less than three months afterCorey Harriswent viralwhen he appeared from behind the wheel of a car at his virtual hearing fordriving with a suspended license, the Michigan man hasgotten a license, and the case that threw him into the limelight has come to an official close.

On Wednesday, Aug. 7, Harris admitted responsibility to a civil infraction, which will not add any points to his new license, his lawyer, Dionne Webster-Cox, tells PEOPLE.

Judge J. Cedric Simpson – who in May expressed visible frustration as Harris drove into a parking lot while joining the hearing via Zoom – waived the fines and costs associated with the charge, which was downgraded from a misdemeanor after he secured a license over the summer, according to Webster-Cox.

“It was a great day for Mr. Harris,” Webster-Cox, tells PEOPLE.

Corey Harris’s driver’s license, issued July 8, 2024.Dionne Webster-Cox

Dionne Webster-Cox

Before Wednesday’s hearing, Webster-Cox said that Harris’s story was one that had transcended from personal embarrassment to publicized achievement, as hesecured a license on July 8.

“In the face of public ridicule, Mr. Harris did not become discouraged,” she said. “He stayed the course and finished the race.”

In 2023, a police officer pulled over Harris in an Ann Arbor suburb after noticing that the car he was driving had an expired license plate, according to Webster-Cox.

The officer asked to see his license.

Harris did not have one to show him.

(The above video was created following the May 15 hearing. Since that time, more facts related to Corey Harris' case have become known.)

His driving privileges had been suspended since 2007, according to Angela Benander of Michigan’s Secretary of State. (Although Harris hadnever actually had a license, the automatic suspension resulted from failing to pay child support, per Webster-Cox.)

Based on the previous paperwork, he was ultimately charged with misdemeanor driving while license suspended.

Harris then famously Zoomed into that May 15 hearing for the chargefrom the driver’s seatof a moving car.

Judge J. Cedric Simpson (left) sent Corey Harris (right) to jail in May, after Harris tuned into his virtual court appearance for driving with a suspended license– from the driver’s seat of a moving car.Honorable Judge Cedric Simpson via Storyful

Honorable Judge Cedric Simpson via Storyful

“Mr. Harris, are you driving?” the judge asked in therecorded hearing.

“Just give me one second,” Harris responded, seemingly oblivious to the judge’s open shock. “I’m parking right now.”

Harris’s mouth dropped into a surprised “O.”

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His lawyer later told PEOPLE that the initial charge had confused Harris, who had come to believe that he had a license to suspend because of the 2007 automatic suspension.

After much initial embarrassment, Harris – who his lawyer says was most concerned that people in his church might judge him for the driving error – got to work correcting his mistake.

In June PEOPLE reported that Harris hadobtained a permit. A month after that, he received his first ever license.

With Wednesday’s hearing, “it’s done,” says Webster-Cox of proceedings that strung on for almost a year.

Referencing her client’s high-profile legal drama that has strung on for nearly a year, Webster Cox tells PEOPLE: “It’s done.”

source: people.com