New Mexico Court Fines Attorney Who Used ChatGPT for Legal Appeal
The New Mexico Supreme Court fined a defense attorney $5,000 for submitting a legal appeal containing fabricated police testimony and witnesses generated by ChatGPT.
A lawyer who appealed his client's murder conviction relied on ChatGPT to prepare a legal document that included police testimony and witnesses entirely invented by the artificial intelligence, Reuters reported. The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that the document contained "false testimony from completely fabricated witnesses."
The court fined attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt of court after he failed to verify the reliability of the information in the document. Additionally, the judges decided to refer the matter to the state's disciplinary board for attorneys.
Aarons, who was representing Oscar Rene Sandoval—convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment—told Reuters that he used ChatGPT to summarize trial proceedings. He said he did not realize the extent to which artificial intelligence could "hallucinate" facts.
Among other things, the submitted document included invented details claiming the shooter wore dark pants and a white shirt. During the hearing, one of the justices questioned how a lawyer could remain unaware of the dangers of using artificial intelligence: "Do you watch the news? Listen to the radio? Read anything about what's happening in the world?"
