CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A metro Atlanta prosecutor apologized to the state’s highest court for using artificial intelligence to write a legal brief citing cases that didn’t exist.
Clayton County Assistant District Attorney Deborah Leslie composed and filed the briefs for a Georgia Supreme Court hearing for a murder trial appeal.
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Georgia Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson noticed something unusual in the state’s order though. He said it included “at least five citations to cases that don’t exist,” when reviewing them in court.
After an investigation by the District Attorney’s Office, Leslie had to file an apology with the court, which was submitted on Friday.
The proposed order was also revised to have the “phantom” citations withdrawn.
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Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley spoke to Channel 2’s Tom Jones after the issue was raised.
Mosley told Jones that while Leslie told the judge she prepared an order was revised, that was not the case.
The Clayton County DA told Jones that you don’t lie to the court.
Mosley said she believed it was likely that AI was used to write the proposed order, which is why the “phantom cases” were included.
“There was a clear policy that AI should not be used. That is a violation,” Mosley told Channel 2 Action News.
Peterson was reviewing a motion from the prosecution during oral arguments in the case of Hannah Payne, who was convicted of murdering 62-year-old Kenneth Herring in 2023.
Payne is requesting the state’s highest court grant her a new trial.
That was when Peterson mentioned several case citations he’d seen for “cases that don’t exist.”
The chief justice said at the hearing that there were five cases that did not exist, at least five more citations form the prosecution that were “questionable” and three more quotations that didn’t exist.
Following the DA’s office investigation, nine court citations were withdrawn.
“The State respectfully requests that the Court disregard the aforementioned citations and/or quotations in its consideration of the issues presented,” the DA’s office wrote in a brief. “These errors were not intentional. The State takes full responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of its filings and regrets any confusion caused to the Court.”
A copy of an email submitted to the court regarding the citations, and their removal, showed Mosley tell Payne’s attorney that while an apology was issued to the court, the information contained therein did not substantively impact the proceedings.
“An apology is not substantive. I apologized and did not talk about the facts or anything of the case at all,” Mosley wrote to Payne’s counsel. “Sorry that this mater has caused you any discomfort. The Supreme Court was explicit in ordering Ms. Leslie to provide all email communications between her and the Judge to them.”
While Mosley confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that Leslie would be disciplined for the policy violation, the disciplinary actions were not revealed.
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