New Mexico Lawyer Fined $5K for AI-Generated Brief With Fabricated Witnesses
New Mexico's Supreme Court has imposed a $5,000 fine on attorney Stephen Aarons after finding that a brief he submitted in a murder conviction appeal was generated using AI and contained fabricated witnesses and false testimony. The court held Aarons in contempt for failing to verify the factual claims and legal authority in the AI-generated document. The brief reportedly included false testimony from entirely fabricated witnesses, along with inaccurate details about the shooter's clothing and appearance. During an August hearing, Justice C. Shannon Bacon questioned how Aarons was not aware of the risks associated with using AI tools to generate legal documents without independent verification.