ChatGPT made up police testimony in New Mexico murder appeal

A defence lawyer in New Mexico fabricated police testimony and witnesses for an appeal in murder conviction by using ChatGPT.

The New Mexico Supreme Court penalized the defence lawyer, Stephen Aaron and held him in contempt as he could not verify the accuracy and transparency of the court filing. Later, Aaron admitted that he prepared the appeal with help from the AI model.

The filing “contained false testimony ​from wholly fabricated witnesses,” the court said. The ruling also mentioned the Aarons’ lack of remorse and concern for his client, thereby referring to an attorney disciplinary board and investigation. He was also fined $5,000.

As reported by Reuters, Aaron said he had used ChatGPT for summarizing the trial proceeding but he was unaware of the extent to which an AI tool could hallucinate facts.

He said, "I am remorseful but hopeful that the disciplinary board takes into account it was an honest mistake. It is a lesson learned for all professionals who rely upon this powerful but sometimes unstable technology."

The case involves the murder appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval, who is serving a life sentence for killing the mother of his children.

The filing went beyond typical AI errors like fake case citations by inventing details, including fictional statements about the shooter's clothing.

At an August 21 hearing, Aarons admitted to feeding case materials to ChatGPT to generate a summary, expecting it to be bulletproof.

Supreme Court Justice C. Shannon Bacon expressed disbelief, noting that lawyers relying on AI hallucination is a widespread issue.