The New Mexico Supreme Court found attorney Steven Aarons in contempt of court and fined him $5,000 after he filed an appeal in a murder case that included testimony from nonexistent witnesses generated by ChatGPT, infohub.kz reports.
According to ArsTechnica, 40 years of legal experience did not prevent the Santa Fe lawyer from making a serious mistake. Aarons represented Oscar Rene Sandoval, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his partner, Shirin Al-Jibouri.
According to the court ruling, the defense attorney uploaded the trial transcript to ChatGPT, hoping to get a high-quality summary. Instead, the appellate document was filled with entirely fabricated testimony from nonexistent officers — Michelle Amarillo and Sanchez — as well as false statements from individuals named Manal Al-Jibouri, Teresa Marquez, Danny and Linda Stanton. The text included invented threats and details about the shooter's clothing that were not part of the actual case.
Aarons admitted that he did not verify the facts and citations before signing and filing the document, and that he did not inform his client about the errors. The court referred the matter to a disciplinary commission for further investigation, specifically noting the lawyer's lack of remorse.
The attorney himself said he made an honest mistake and was unaware of artificial intelligence's capacity for hallucinations, urging colleagues to be cautious when working with such technologies. The appeal has been assigned to public defender Kim Chavez Cook.