US lawyer cites fake witnesses in murder case, blames ChatGPT

Published On 11 Sep 202611 Sep 2026.

Key points

• The appeal is still pending and was assigned on September 2 to Kim Chavez Cook, a New Mexico public defender.
• Aarons, a private attorney based in Santa Fe, was handling the appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval.
• The district attorney's office for Dona Ana County additionally declined to comment.
• Aarons informed the court at an August 21 hearing that he fed a computer-generated transcript and other case materials to ChatGPT, presuming it would generate "a bulletproof summary".
• The panel additionally stated Aarons had "demonstrated a lack of remorse and a lack of concern for his client".

For context, a 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 has remarked.

In practice, the New Mexico Supreme Court in the United States on Wednesday fined the lawyer, Stephen Aarons, and held him in contempt for failing to verify the accuracy of the court filing. It aarons remarked he prepared with assist from the artificial intelligence (AI) programme.

For context, the filing "contained false testimony from wholly fabricated witnesses", the court remarked.

Notably, the panel additionally stated Aarons had "demonstrated a lack of remorse and a lack of concern for his client". The justices fined Aarons $5, 000 and remarked they will refer him to an attorney disciplinary board for investigation.

Aarons, in an official note to the Reuters news agency, remarked he had employed ChatGPT to summarise the trial proceedings when he agreed to take up the defendant's appeal last year, and did not understand the degree to which AI could "hallucinate" facts.

"I am remorseful but hopeful that the disciplinary board takes into account it was an honest mistake, " he remarked. "It is a lesson learned for all professionals who rely upon this powerful but sometimes unstable technology." OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Employ of AI tools.

Notably, the court's sanction is the latest in a growing number of cases in which state and federal judges have disciplined lawyers for submitting court documents generated by AI tools without adequately vetting them. Some judges have additionally faced scrutiny over the apply of AI.

Dozens of lawyers have been sanctioned for filing briefs where AI created up case citations or misquoted the law. Aarons's filing appears to have gone further, containing fabricated witness testimony in a criminal appeal.

Aarons, a private attorney based in Santa Fe, was handling the appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval. This person pleaded not guilty to the murder of the mother of his children before he was convicted and sentenced last year to life in prison.

In practice, the appeal is still pending and was assigned on September 2 to Kim Chavez Cook, a New Mexico public defender. Cook declined to comment.

Notably, the district attorney's office for Dona Ana County additionally declined to comment.

In practice, the state supreme court last month ordered Aarons to explain how the fabricated material. It it remarked appeared to include "fictional statements that the shooter was wearing dark pants and a white shirt", was included in his primary brief in the appeal.

Meanwhile, the justices sounded incredulous that Aarons was not fully aware of how AI can create mistakes.

"Counsel, do you watch the news? Do you listen to the radio? Do you read anything regarding what's going on in the world?" Justice C. Shannon Bacon remarked at the hearing. "Because the problem with lawyers relying on AI hallucinations is an above-the-fold story every single day."

Taken together, the developments around US lawyer cites fake witnesses in murder case, blames ChatGPT point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.