Judges mock lawyer who filed appeal full of AI-generated 'witnesses'
The New Mexico Supreme Court fined attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt for submitting an appeal brief containing fabricated witness testimony generated by ChatGPT. Aarons claimed he used the AI to summarize trial proceedings and did not realize the extent to which the technology could hallucinate facts. The court referred him to a disciplinary board, noting his lack of remorse and concern for his client, while the appeal remains pending with a new public defender assigned.
- ▪The New Mexico Supreme Court fined attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt for filing a brief with AI-generated false testimony.
- ▪Aarons stated he used ChatGPT to summarize trial records and did not understand the degree to which the AI could hallucinate facts.
- ▪The court referred Aarons to an attorney disciplinary board for investigation due to his failure to verify the accuracy of the court filing.
- ▪The fabricated material included fictional witness statements regarding the appearance of the shooter in a murder appeal case.
- ▪The appeal is still pending and has been reassigned to a New Mexico public defender named Kim Chavez Cook.
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| Original publisher | RNZ |
| Canonical URL | https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/1349763/judges-mock-lawyer-who-filed-appeal-full-of-ai-generated-witnesses |
| Publication time | Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:36:57 +0000 |
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NewsWorld12 September 2026, 7:17amJudges mock lawyer who filed appeal full of AI-generated 'witnesses'Mike Scarcella forCaption:ChatGPT icon application on smartphone screen.Photo credit:123RFA defense lawyer appealing his client's murder conviction submitted a brief containing made-up police testimony and witnesses fabricated by OpenAI's ChatGPT, New Mexico's highest court said.The New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday fined the attorney, Stephen Aarons, and held him in contempt for failing to verify the accuracy of the court filing, which Aarons said he prepared with help from the AI program.The filing "contained false testimony from wholly fabricated witnesses", the court said.The panel also said Aarons had "demonstrated a lack of remorse and a lack of concern for his client".The…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at RNZ.