Lawyer sanctioned for using AI-generated fake evidence in murder appeal

The New Mexico Supreme Court has fined Santa Fe-based attorney Steven Aarons $5,000 and referred him to the state bar disciplinary board following his use of fabricated evidence in a murder appeal. The attorney was found guilty of contempt of court after submitting a brief containing falsified police and witness statements generated by the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT. The misconduct occurred during the appeal for Oscar Rene Sandoval, who was sentenced to life imprisonment last year for the murder of the mother of his children.

Mr. Aarons reportedly fed trial transcripts into the AI software to generate a summary for the appeal. The tool created entirely fictitious details, including false descriptions of the perpetrator's clothing, which the attorney failed to verify before including them in the formal filing. This case highlights the increasing ethical and legal risks associated with relying on generative AI for legal documentation. The court determined that the lawyer's failure to cross-check the AI-generated claims constituted a significant breach of professional duty and legal standards.