Did a Clayton County prosecutor use artificial intelligence to craft a proposed order chock-full of phony case law?
The Georgia Supreme Court certainly had some questions about that during arguments last week in the appeal of a high-profile murder case.
Now the prosecutor who prepared that order has 10 days to explain herself.
“There are at least five citations to cases that don’t exist,” Chief Justice Nels Peterson told prosecutor Deborah Leslie during the hearing. “And there’s at least five more citations to cases that do not support the proposition for which they’re cited, including three quotations that don’t exist.”
Credit: Supreme Court of Georgia
Credit: Supreme Court of Georgia
Leslie apparently crafted the order denying a new trial for Hannah Payne, who is serving a life sentence for chasing down and fatally shooting an unarmed driver involved in a hit-and-run.
But briefs and orders filed by the state last year appear to include nonexistent cases and made-up quotes, the court said Friday. The Supreme Court gave Clayton prosecutors 10 days to offer “a complete explanation as to how and why this happened.”
The court allowed both the state and Payne’s appellate attorney to conclude their oral arguments Wednesday morning before bringing up the discrepancy.
“Before you sit down, there’s one more thing I need to ask you about, unfortunately,” Peterson said.
He asked Leslie if the citations included in the judge’s denial order were prepared by the state.
“No, your honor. I do not believe so. They were not,” Leslie told him. “I did prepare an order. That order was revised.”
Peterson said the nonexistent quotations were, in fact, cited by the state it its initial brief opposing Payne’s motion for a new trial.
“Your honor, I’m not aware of that, but I would be glad to research that and provide the court with a supplement,” Leslie said.
On Friday, the Georgia Supreme Court asked Leslie for an explanation of nine citations that ended up in the trial court’s Sept. 12 order.
A growing number of attorneys have been accused of using AI to help craft legal briefs in recent years, especially when judges spot references to cases that don’t exist.
But defense attorney Andrew Fleischman, who represents Payne in her appeal, said he’s never seen an attorney get called out in a case being argued before the Georgia Supreme Court.
After taking a closer look at the case filings prepared by his opponents, Fleischman said there’s “no question” this was the work of AI. There’s no other explanation for how this could have happened, he said.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Attorneys sometimes take a quote out of context or misinterpret a lower court’s rationale, he said.
“Those are human errors. But to invent a quote out of whole cloth or to cite a case that doesn’t exist is only something AI does,” he said.
The Clayton County District Attorney’s Office said it was investigating the incident and would hold off on saying more until that was complete.
“We understand the level of seriousness,” DA Tasha Mosley said. “Once all of the information has been collected a statement will be made.”
In May 2019, authorities said Payne chased and fatally shot Kenneth Herring after seeing him hit another vehicle in traffic.
She called 911 before chasing the 62-year-old for about a mile and shooting him near the intersection of Riverdale Road and Forest Parkway.
Payne, who was 21 at the time, ignored the instructions of 911 dispatchers who told her to stay at the scene of the initial hit-and-run and not to confront the other driver.
She was convicted in 2023 and sentenced to life with parole, plus an additional 13 years.
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