A Manhattan judge on Wednesday accused Michael Cohen’s former lawyer of citing a fake AI-generated case in court, the New York Post reports.
A federal judge criticized Cohen’s former lawyer for making a grave mistake by using a fake AI-generated case in court documents. according to to the New York Post. Despite the fiasco, Judge Jesse Furman decided not to punish Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, David Schwartz.
“Citing an incident that doesn’t exist is embarrassing, certainly negligent, and perhaps even grossly negligent,” Fuhrman said, according to the New York Post. “But the court cannot find that it was done with malicious intent.”
Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer, said he filed a bogus lawsuit against Schwartz from an AI service called Google Bird. Mr. Schwartz is no longer representing Cohen, but the mistake was discovered when he tried to halt his supervised release. He was on supervised release after being convicted of tax evasion and campaign finance violations in 2018, the newspaper said.
Former lawyer Michael Cohen made ’embarrassing’ mistake after using AI in court documents: judge https://t.co/vy8oBxlP4t pic.twitter.com/IoeSiujPda
— New York Post (@nypost) March 20, 2024
Schwartz’s lawyer, retired judge Barry Cummins, said he was relieved the court deemed the mistake unintentional. “I am pleased that the court deemed this mistake not to be the result of malicious intent on the part of Mr. Schwartz,” Cummins told the New York Post. (Related: Republican lawmaker files criminal charges against Michael Cohen over comments made under oath)
Furman rejected Cohen’s request for early release, pointing out inconsistencies in his statements and suggesting Cohen may have lied, the New York Post reported.
Cohen’s attorney, Danya Perry, considered the lack of punishment a victory, but disagreed with the idea that Cohen lied under oath. Perry suggested that people sometimes admit to crimes they didn’t commit because of pressure from plea bargains, the New York Post reported.
