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An Arizona appeals court has ruled in an unusual case involving a road rage incident. At sentencing, the family of the person who was killed played an AI-generated video of the victim. The appeals court ruled the video unfairly influenced a trial judge, and the man convicted needs to be given a new sentence. Matthew Casey of member station KJZZ in Phoenix reports.
MATTHEW CASEY, BYLINE: Stacey Wales still carries some of her baby brother's things around with her, like his military jacket and the flag the government gave their family after he died.
STACEY WALES: These are hard objects to look at. It's hard to be reminded of a life that was snuffed out so early.
CASEY: Gabriel Horcasitas was convicted of manslaughter in the 2021 road rage killing of Chris Pelkey. At sentencing for Horcasitas, Wales played a video in court. It started off like this.
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AI-GENERATED VOICE: (As Chris Pelkey) I am a version of Chris Pelkey recreated through AI that uses my picture and my voice profile. I was able to be digitally regenerated to share with you today.
CASEY: The video was a victim impact statement, a chance for victims to address a judge during sentencing to talk about who they are and the emotional or physical toll of a crime. This one featured an AI avatar of Pelkey. The judge gave Pelkey's killer 10 1/2 years in prison, more than the nine years that the prosecution sought. Horcasitas challenged the fairness of his sentence.
The Arizona Court of Appeals recently concluded there's no question the video played some role in the length of prison term he got and that he should be resentenced. Deputy Public Defender Kristen Reller represented Horcasitas during his appeal. She says victims get a lot of leeway to express themselves when it's time to consider punishment. But also...
KRISTEN RELLER: One of the few protections that defendants still carry into sentencing is that the proceeding has to be fundamentally fair and in accordance with due process.
CASEY: Reller argued that these AI-generated videos aren't always reliable. In court, she said they aren't necessarily authentic or accurate. She also argued they carry too much emotional weight. A trio of appellate judges agreed, writing that the video erases the line between what the family thinks the victim would've said and what he might've actually said. Here's Reller again.
RELLER: They found that it was unduly prejudicial and that it led to a sentencing that was fundamentally unfair.
CASEY: The Arizona appeals court got it right, says attorney Molly Brizgys, president-elect of the local chapter of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She says fabrication and fiction don't belong in a space for truth and justice.
MOLLY BRIZGYS: I think this video was the antithesis of what a court of law is all about. AI is a magic trick. It's a sleight of hand. It's a tool of manipulation, and it can seduce us into certain things.
CASEY: Brizgys calls the video unnerving but acknowledges that it tugged heartstrings. Stacey Wales says it was supposed to be touching.
WALES: Our job that day was to humanize Chris. How do you do that when they're not around and you only have a day? So for it to be said that this was too emotional, good. That was the point.
CASEY: Prosecutors are appealing the decision for resentencing to the state supreme court.
For NPR News, I'm Matthew Casey in Phoenix.
(SOUNDBITE OF KILL EMIL'S "THE HAPPENING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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