Defense Lawyer Fined $5,000 After ChatGPT Invents Fake Witnesses and Police Testimony in Murder Appeal
A New Mexico Supreme Court justice asked the 40-year veteran attorney during the hearing: 'Counsel, do you watch the news? Do you read anything about what’s going on in the world?'
The New Mexico Supreme Court has fined Santa Fe defense attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt of court for filing an appeal brief that contained false testimony from completely fabricated witnesses and made-up police statements generated by ChatGPT.
The appeal was filed on behalf of Oscar Renee Sandoval, who is serving a life sentence for gunning down the mother of his children. Aarons, who has practiced law for more than 40 years, admitted using ChatGPT to summarize lengthy trial proceedings but failed to verify the accuracy of the output. The AI chatbot hallucinated non-existent witness testimony, including fictional statements that the shooter was wearing dark pants and a white shirt—details that never occurred during the actual trial.
During an August 21 hearing, New Mexico Supreme Court Justice C. Shannon Bacon expressed disbelief at Aarons' claim that he was unaware AI could invent facts: 'Counsel, do you watch the news? Do you listen to the radio? Do you read anything about what’s going on in the world? Because the problem with lawyers relying on AI hallucinations is an above-the-fold story every single day.' While Aarons claimed it was an 'honest mistake,' the Supreme Court noted that he 'demonstrated a lack of remorse and a lack of concern for the client.' On September 2, the appeal was reassigned to public defender Kim Chavez Cook, and Aarons was referred to the state attorney disciplinary board for further investigation.
Sources: New York Post, The Verge, Reuters.
BenPig thinks that when a person's entire life is on the line, lawyers should take the clumsy time to read through the case files page by page.