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New Mexico attorney fined $5,000 after ChatGPT invents murder-case witnesses

2 sources · 2 articles · safety · confidence: high · first seen 2026-09-11 18:04 UTC

A defence lawyer appealing his client's murder conviction in New Mexico has been fined $5,000 and held in contempt by the state supreme court after submitting a brief that contained fabricated police testimony and non-existent witnesses generated by ChatGPT. Stephen Aarons said he used the system to create what he called a 'bulletproof summary' and failed to verify the filing's factual claims before submitting it. The court announced the sanctions on Wednesday. The Verge, citing Reuters, reports the fine amount. Aarons has not yet responded to requests for comment on the sanctions.

What this means for you

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Key facts

  • ·The New Mexico Supreme Court fined defence lawyer Stephen Aarons $5,000. source
  • ·The court held Aarons in contempt for failing to verify the accuracy of his filing. source
  • ·The brief contained fabricated police testimony and non-existent witnesses generated by ChatGPT. source
  • ·Aarons said he used ChatGPT to create a 'bulletproof summary' for the murder conviction appeal. source

What the sources say

  • The Guardian — Reports the court's contempt finding and the lawyer's admission that he used ChatGPT.
  • The Verge — Adds the $5,000 fine amount and cites Reuters for the sanctions.

Sources

The original reporting. Follow these — they did the work.

← the wire