# New Mexico Supreme Court fines lawyer $5,000 over AI-fabricated brief in murder appeal

_Friday, September 11, 2026 at 4:44 PM EDT · AI, Policy · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![New Mexico Supreme Court fines lawyer $5,000 over AI-fabricated brief in murder appeal — Primary](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25384193/STK470_AI_LAW_CVIRGINIA_C.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.732984293194%2C100%2C78.534031413613&w=1200)

New Mexico's Supreme Court fined lawyer Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt for failing to verify the factual claims and legal authority in an AI-generated brief filed in a client's murder conviction appeal, according to a Wednesday filing reported by Reuters.

The brief contained false testimony from wholly fabricated witnesses and false testimony about the shooter's clothing and appearance. At an August hearing, Aarons admitted using ChatGPT and expecting it to produce a bulletproof summary of the trial. Justice C. Shannon Bacon questioned how he was unaware of AI hallucination risks.

Aarons said he was remorseful and hoped the disciplinary board would treat it as an honest mistake.

## Sources

- [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/994207/chatgpt-new-mexico-lawyer-fined-murder-appeal)

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Retrieved: 2026-09-12T02:47:02.386Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)