The Clayton County District Attorney's Office has apologized to the Supreme Court of Georgia after a prosecutor used artificial intelligence to draft a legal filing that contained fabricated case citations.
Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice Nels Peterson said prosecutor Deborah Leslie filed an argument, in the appeal of Hannah Payne, a woman convicted in a 2019 hit-and-run death, that included at least five citations to court cases that do not exist and at least five additional citations to real cases that did not support the legal points attributed to them. Leslie initially said the filing had been altered before later admitting she had used AI to help write it.
District Attorney Tasha Mosley wrote a formal letter to the Chief Justice acknowledging the error. "In my almost 30-year career as an attorney and 17 years as an elected official, I never imagined a situation where I would do what I am doing now," Mosley wrote. She said Leslie violated the office's ethical standards and now faces possible discipline, including a State Bar grievance, suspension, or loss of privileges. Mosley said the office is expanding its technology use policies to address AI going forward.
Metro Atlanta trial attorney Tom Church said the case marks the first time this kind of AI citation error has surfaced at the Georgia Supreme Court level from a prosecutor's office. Chief Justice Peterson has separately warned that AI use in filings carries no excuse for submitting false case law.
Source: FOX 5 Atlanta - https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/clayton-prosecutor-punished-using-ai-court-filings-citing-fake-cases