AI could destroy entire justice system by sending innocent people to JAIL with fake CCTV, Making a Murderer lawyer warns

Scottish Sun

27-04-2025

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
AI could wreak havoc in the justice system by sending innocent people to jail, a top lawyer has warned.
Jerry Buting, who defended Steven Avery in Netflix hit Making a Murderer, said video doctoring is becoming so sophisticated it is increasingly hard to spot.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
3
Deepfake technology is advancing to clone the features of a person and map them onto something else. Stock picture
Credit: Alamy
3
Jerry Buting argued to jurors that Steven Avery had been framed in Netflix documentary Making a Murderer
Credit: NETFLIX
3
Avery remains is prison after being given a lift sentence
Credit: Splash News
He believes advanced AI convincingly fabricating evidence could lead to innocent people being thrown behind bars.
Buting, author of Illusion of Justice, told The Sun: 'More and more people could get convicted.'
Deepfake technology is becoming worryingly advanced and exceedingly more difficult to regulate.
Experts have previously told The Sun that deepfakes are the "biggest evolving threat" when it comes to cybercrime.
More on AI
MORE TO LIFE Four ways humans are trying to 'resurrect' & come back from the dead
Deepfakes are fraudulent videos that appear to show a person doing - and possibly saying - things they did not do.
Artificial intelligence-style software is used to clone the features of a person and map them onto something else.
It could see people accused of crimes they didn't commit in a chilling echo of BBC drama The Capture.
The show saw a former British soldier accused of kidnap and murder based on seemingly definitive CCTV footage which had actually been altered.
Buting said: "The tricky part is when AI gets to the point where you can doctor evidence without it being obvious, where you can alter videos.
'There are so many CCTV cameras in the UK, virtually every square foot is covered.
Deepfakes: A Digital Threat to Society
'But if that could be altered in some way so that it is designed to present something that's not true, it could be damaging to the defence or prosecution.
"Then what can we believe if we can't believe our own eyes?'
Buting, who defended Avery in his now infamous 2007 murder trial, said AI is now in a race with experts who are being trained to tell the difference.
But the US-based criminal defence lawyer claims that is no guarantee to stop sickos twisting the truth.
Buting claimed: 'It may result in dismissals but I think it's more likely to result in wrongful convictions because law enforcement and the prosecution just have more resources.
"Nobody really knows how AI is going to impact the justice system.
"But there are also very skilled people who are trying to develop techniques of being able to tell when something has been altered, even at a sophisticated level.
"How AI actually affects the legal system is still very much up in the air.
Deepfakes – what are they, and how do they work?
Here's what you need to know... Deepfakes are phoney videos of people that look perfectly real
They're made using computers to generate convincing representations of events that never happened
Often, this involves swapping the face of one person onto another, or making them say whatever you want
The process begins by feeding an AI hundreds or even thousands of photos of the victim
A machine learning algorithm swaps out certain parts frame-by-frame until it spits out a realistic, but fake, photo or video
In one famous deepfake clip, comedian Jordan Peele created a realistic video of Barack Obama in which the former President called Donald Trump a 'dipsh*t'
In another, the face of Will Smith is pasted onto the character of Neo in the action flick The Matrix. Smith famously turned down the role to star in flop movie Wild Wild West, while the Matrix role went to Keanu Reeves
"If people are able to discover that evidence has been altered, let's say it's a situation where the defence has an expert who can look at the metadata and all the background, then that may very well result in a dismissal of the case, and should.
'Because the evidence was altered, it's original destroyed, how can we believe anything anymore?"
Former White House Information Officer Theresa Payton previously warned The Sun about the huge risks deepfakes pose to society.
She said: "This technology poses risks if misused by criminal syndicates or nation-state cyber operatives.
"Malicious applications include creating fake personas to spread misinformation, manipulate public opinion, and conduct sophisticated social engineering attacks."
In Black Mirror style, Payton warned malicious actors could exploit this technology to sow confusion and chaos by creating deepfakes of world leaders or famous faces - dead or alive.
Buting warned that although teams are being urgently equipped with skills to spot deepfakes, the pace at which the technology is advancing could soon become a real issue.
Who is Steven Avery?
STEVEN Avery is serving a life sentence at Wisconsin's Waupun Correctional Institution.
He and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted of the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach.
He has been fighting for his freedom ever since he was found guilty of murder in 2007.
Avery argued that his conviction was based on planted evidence and false testimony.
In 1985, Avery was falsely convicted of sexually assaulting a young female jogger.
It took 18 years for his conviction to be overturned and he was given a $36million (£28.2million) payout in compensation.
But days later, he was re-arrested for the murder of Teresa Halbach.
The 62-year-old is continuing serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In the 2015 Netflix original series Making a Murderer, Avery documented his struggle for "justice."
In the last episode of the series, viewers were told that Avery had exhausted his appeals and was no longer entitled to state-appointed legal representation.
He added: 'I do fear it could be an issue sooner rather than later.
"There has been a steady erosion in the defence in the UK, for example barristers make very little money, really, for what they have to do.
'There is a real imbalance. The whole idea of an adversary system which the UK employs as do we in the US, is if you have two relatively skilled, equal parties on each side presenting their view of the evidence against the others that the truth will come out.
'Or that the jury will be able to discern the truth or close to it in anyway, whatever justice might be.
'But to the extent that there is this big imbalance and the defence is unskilled or underpaid, then you tend to get lower quality or lower experienced attorneys.
'That's been going on for a long time, so then when you add something like AI to it, it's going to be even harder."
Buting became internationally renowned after appearing on the 2015 Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer.
He alleged Avery had been convicted of a murder he didn't commit, falling foul of a set-up.
But Avery, now 62, was found guilty and is serving a life sentence for the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005.