The Judge's Reaction to an AI-Generated Victim Impact Statement Was Not What We Expected

Yahoo

08-05-2025

A slain Arizona man's family used AI to bring him back from the dead for his killer's sentencing hearing — and the judge presiding over the case apparently "loved" it.
As 404 Media reports, judge Todd Lang was flabbergasted when he saw the AI-generated video of victim Chris Peskey that named and "forgave" the man who killed him in 2021.
"To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances," the video, which Peskey's sister Stacey Wales generated, intoned. "In another life we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness, in God who forgives, I always have. And I still do."
Found guilty earlier this year, Horcasitas' sentencing was contingent, as many cases are, upon various factors, including impact statements from the victim's family.
As Wales told 404 Media, her husband Tim was initially freaked out when she introduced the idea of creating a digital clone of her brother for the hearing and told her she was "asking a lot."
Ultimately, the video was accepted in the sentencing hearing, the first known instance of an AI clone of a deceased person being used in such a way.
And the gambit appears to have paid off.
"I loved that AI, and thank you for that," Lang said, per a video of his pre-sentencing speech. "As angry as you are, and as justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness, and I know Mr. Horcasitas could appreciate it, but so did I."
"I feel like calling him Christopher as we've gotten to know him today," Lang continued. "I feel that that was genuine, because obviously the forgiveness of Mr. Horcasitas reflects the character I heard about today."
Lang acknowledged that although the family itself "demanded the maximum sentence," the AI Pelkey "spoke from his heart" and didn't call for such punishment.
"I didn't hear him asking for the maximum sentence," the judge said.
Horcasitas' lawyer also referenced the Peskey avatar when defending his client and, similarly, said that he also believes his client and the man he killed could have been friends had circumstances been different.
That entreaty didn't seem to mean much, however, to Lang. He ended up sentencing Horcasitas to 10.5 years for manslaughter, which was a year and a half more than prosecutors were seeking.
It's a surprising reaction, showing that many are not only open to AI being used this way, but also in favor of it — evidence that the chasm between AI skeptics and adopters could be widening.
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