The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

AI in Court

Kenosha County (Wisconsin) DA Sanctioned for AI Hallucinations

|The Volokh Conspiracy |


Wisconsin Public Radio (Sarah Lehr) reported Monday:

A judge has sanctioned Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis over his use of artificial intelligence in court filings.

Circuit Court Judge David Hughes called out Solis on Friday for using AI in a response to a defense attorney's request to have a burglary case dismissed [without disclosing this, as Kenosha County court policy required].

Hughes also blasted Solis for using "hallucinated and false citations," online court records show….

The judge dismissed the case, but defense lawyer Michael Cicchini was quoted as saying:

The judge actually granted my motion to dismiss on substantive grounds. In other words, the judge found that there was not probable cause that the defendant committed a crime. His ruling was based on the evidence the state presented at the preliminary hearing that was held about two years ago, under the previous district attorney administration.

Several years ago, Solis had been involved as an attorney in a dispute over the return of the bail funds in the Kyle Rittenhouse case.

Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any institution. He is also the co-host of the Free Speech Unmuted podcast.