ATLANTA — A prosecutor is in trouble after the Georgia Supreme Court questioned her about submitting fake documents.
The assistant District Attorney’s boss said it’s a good guess she used AI to write the documents.
The query over the documents came at the end of oral arguments where convicted murderer Hannah Payne asked the high court to grant her a new trial.
That’s when the Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson dropped a bombshell.
He told Clayton County Assistant District Attorney Deborah Leslie: “So before you sit down. One more thing I need to ask you about. Unfortunately.”
Justice Peterson seemed hesistant to give Leslie the bad news. But he told her in reviewing the Clayton County Superior Court’s motion denying Payne a new trial, he noticed something unusual in the state’s order.
“There are at least 5 citations to cases that don’t exist,” Peterson pointed out.
He went on to say there’s at least 5 more questionable citations from the state. Including citations that have 3 quotations that don’t exist.
He wanted to know if Leslie submitted the phantom cases.
“No, your honor. I do not believe so. They were not,” she replied.
Leslie says she prepared an order, but it was revised.
Her boss, Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley said that was not true, and nothing was revised.
Mosley said you don’t lie to the court.
The DA said she was watching the oral arguments. Then she heard Justice Peterson bring up the phantom cases.
Mosley said it was utterly devastating to realize that these cases do not exist. She said an investigation is underway.
She was asked if she thought Leslie used AI to write the order. Mosley said it’s a good guess but said using AI is against department policy.
“There was a clear policy that AI should not be used. That is a violation,” she said.
Mosley says she has disciplined Leslie but wouldn’t say how.
Mosley says she has apologized to Kenneth Herring’s family and the Superior Court judge who handled the trial.
Payne was convicted and serving a life sentence for the 2019 deadly shooting of Herring. Prosecutors said Payne chased Herring after he left the scene of a minor car accident.
She went to Herring’s car and insisted he return to the scene. There was a struggle and Herring was shot.
The District Attorney’s office has to explain how the fake documents ended up in the court file by April 2.
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