{
  "id": 6794473,
  "title": "ChatGPT invented fake police testimony in murder appeal, New Mexico high court says",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/chatgpt-invented-fake-police-testimony-in-murder-appeal-new-mexico-6794473",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-11T20:35:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Jerusalem Post",
    "slug": "jerusalem-post",
    "url": "https://www.jpost.com/international/article-908389"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The New Mexico Supreme Court has fined defense attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt after discovering that he had submitted a brief containing fabricated police testimony and fabricated witnesses created by OpenAI's ChatGPT. The court found that Aarons failed to verify the accuracy of the court filing, which contained false information about the shooter's clothing. The panel also stated that Aarons demonstrated a lack of remorse and concern for his client. Aarons claimed he used ChatGPT to summarize trial proceedings but did not understand the potential risks of AI hallucinating facts. He expressed remorse but hoped the disciplinary board would consider it an honest mistake. This case is part of a growing number of incidents where lawyers have been sanctioned for submitting AI-generated court documents without proper vetting.",
  "summary": "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 vetting them.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 7,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "ChatGPT invented fake police testimony in murder appeal, New Mexico high court says",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/chatgpt-invented-fake-police-testimony-in-murder-appeal-new-mexico",
        "published": "2026-09-11T12:08:41.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Hindustan Times",
        "title": "Mumbai man used ChatGPT to fake PMO ID ‘to boost social standing’, police tell court",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/mumbai-man-used-chatgpt-to-fake-pmo-id-to-boost-social-standing",
        "published": "2026-09-11T12:11:02.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Quartz",
        "title": "New Mexico court held a lawyer in contempt for using ChatGPT to fake testimony in a murder appeal",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/new-mexico-court-held-a-lawyer-in-contempt-for-using-chatgpt-to-fake",
        "published": "2026-09-11T13:40:28.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "NDTV",
        "title": "ChatGPT Wrote Fake Police Testimony In Murder Trial, Lawyer Fined $5,000",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/chatgpt-wrote-fake-police-testimony-in-murder-trial-lawyer-fined-5-000",
        "published": "2026-09-11T14:28:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Times of India",
        "title": "Mumbai mall entry case: Man used ChatGPT to create fake PMO docs, police tell court",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/mumbai-mall-entry-case-man-used-chatgpt-to-create-fake-pmo-docs",
        "published": "2026-09-11T14:34:11.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Economic Times Tech",
        "title": "ChatGPT invented fake police testimony in murder appeal, New Mexico high court says",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/chatgpt-invented-fake-police-testimony-in-murder-appeal-new-mexico-6779001",
        "published": "2026-09-11T17:09:35.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}