Arizona man to be resentenced after court rejects AI video of road-rage victim forgiving him.
Gabriel Paul Horcasitas, 55, was convicted of killing 37-year-old Christopher Pelkey during a confrontation at a traffic light in 2021. He was sentenced to about 10 years in prison, but challenged the sentence after the trial judge allowed Pelkey’s family to present an AI-generated video of the dead victim during the sentencing hearing. Because it presented thoughts attributed to Pelkey that he had never actually expressed, the three-judge appeals panel said the AI video went beyond a conventional victim-impact statement.
The BBC and Reuters reported that the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld Horcasitas’ conviction but ordered a fresh sentencing hearing.
The court said the use of the video made the sentencing procedure “fundamentally unfair”. Pelkey’s sister Stacey Wales had earlier told the BBC that the family created the video to portray her brother and communicate the impact his death had on those around him. “Rather than document an event or recording a particular moment, the AI video presents a depiction of the victim and his thoughts created from the imaginings of the victim’s sister,” the court said.
An Arizona man convicted of fatally shooting a motorist during a road-rage confrontation will be resentenced after an appeals court ruled that an AI-generated video of the victim addressing him should not have been shown in court. Pelkey’s family created the video using his photographs, videos and voice recordings. It showed an AI-generated version of Pelkey wearing a grey baseball cap and speaking directly to Horcasitas.