Something really rotten seems to be happening down in Georgia's halls of justice and, for once, it's not related to Fani Willis. But it is still VERY worrisome.
This week, the state Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the case of Hannah Payne, who was convicted of murder in 2019 during a traffic dispute, but has applied for a new trial, claiming that her appointed attorney did not represent her properly, and didn't make the self-defense argument she wanted to claim.
We're not sure about the merits of Payne's appeal, but what made this case go viral on social media was not Payne, but rather the attorney representing the state, Deborah Leslie.
In a moment that captures the dangers of AI (and DEI), the incompetence of many public officials (particularly on the left), and the need for accountability, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels Peterson asked Leslie one of the more bizarre questions we've heard in a courtroom in some time.
Watch below as Justice Peterson puts Leslie on the hot seat for submitting citations to the court of cases that do not even exist. (We swear we are not making this up, though she clearly did.)
An absolutely excruciating moment at the Georgia Supreme Court this week.
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) March 20, 2026
Justice Peterson pressed state attorney Deborah Leslie over her citations to cases that apparently don’t exist. pic.twitter.com/D9Ww7sYvBF
Pardon our French, but ... WTAF?
As Bower noted above, this is just excruciating to watch. Not only the fact that Leslie submit fraudulent documents to the court, but then clearly lied to Peterson, as he exposed in the second half of the clip.
Recommended
And neither Peterson nor the state Supreme Court is going to let her get away with it.
Update: Today, the Georgia Supreme Court issued an order directing counsel for the state to file a sworn affidavit providing a “complete explanation” for the filings that included non-existent cases and other errors. https://t.co/ua7TMYvON3 pic.twitter.com/7oahBUqxVn
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) March 20, 2026
'Oh, Debbie! You got some 'splainin' to do!'
The fact that the state attorney did this (and not some rando sleazeball defense attorney) is infuriating
— PoIiMath (@politicalmath) March 21, 2026
That they did this in order to deny a new trial to a woman who was (it seems) the victim of a vindictive prosecutor and a corrupt court is rage-inducing https://t.co/AnB5Le5QnF
As we noted, we're not going to evaluate Payne's appeal here. But from some recaps we've read, she does at least seem to have a case for self-defense, as well as not being properly represented in her first trial.
Our biggest question is how bad must her defense attorney have been if the obviously incompetent and corrupt Clayton County prosecutors were able to convict her? (The fact that Payne is white and the victim was a black man might play a role, but that is also a topic for another article.)
She obviously used AI, because no one could possibly be stupid enough to cite a case that anyone with a Westlaw account could determine in 5 seconds didn't exist.
— Boo (@IzaBooboo) March 21, 2026
I think it's time to start disbarring these people. https://t.co/xLhTB0DqJi
Many agreed that disbarment was the minimum consequence that Leslie should face.
Grounds for disbarment https://t.co/W10FYrAf7d
— Phil Holloway ✈️ (@PhilHollowayEsq) March 20, 2026
Is this grounds for disbarment?
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) March 20, 2026
If attorneys are trying to pass off court docs with wholly fabricated citations that were prepared using AI, couldn’t that be considered contempt (at the very least)? https://t.co/0KFGELfSA6
Contempt might be appropriate if Leslie simply failed to review a document for accuracy.
But she also lied directly to Justice Peterson's face about having nothing to do with including and submitting the fraudulent cases. A lie that he quickly exposed by asking her why those same fictional cases were included in her initial brief.
Pretty tortured "I am not aware..."
— Andy Martin (@Dollarlogic) March 20, 2026
If someone accused me of making up citations for cases that don't exist, and he was wrong, "I am not aware" (that I am a liar, but would be glad to check into this) would not be my response. 🤣
>Submits an AI-written draft order to the trial court with 5 fake cases.
— J. Respectful Clark (@JReubenCIark) March 20, 2026
>Unhesitatingly lies about it on camera before the state supreme court.
>When caught, pretends not to have any idea what the judge is talking about.
The next step will be blaming a law clerk. https://t.co/3w26Yi9zUL
And if that doesn't work, expect Leslie to claim that she is being harassed by the Supreme Court because of racism or sexism. Or some other -ism.
So, how are lawyers being punished for this? People pay a lot of money for representation and court fees and the whole process, and they just use AI hallucinations? https://t.co/svqYHImZkF
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) March 20, 2026
Hey, it beats working for a living.
ParalegalGPT strikes again https://t.co/0ymuhjWZ44
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) March 20, 2026
Most companies label their AI agents as assistants for a reason.
Assistant does not mean substitute.
Incompetence or intentional fraud?
— Freedom Unclassified Ω 🌴🦩🐊😎 ⛈️🐬🍊✝️🇺🇸 (@DennisP220) March 21, 2026
Embrace the power of 'AND.'
Using AI? I guess it doesn't matter.
— The Sarcasticat (@TheSarcasticist) March 20, 2026
Deborah Leslie needs to be disbarred and cited for contempt for lying to the court. Her boss, Tasha M. Mosley, the elected District Attorney of Clayton County, Georgia, should be ordered to appear before the court and explain herself and the…
... the conduct of her office. Not that Tasha Mosley is impressive as a lawyer herself. She served as chair of the board of Rainbow House, a youth emergency shelter. She has been accused in a civil suit of covering up abuse at the shelter.
The DA's office of Clayton County kinda sucks.
Ya think?
Oof! That's gonna leave a mark. 😄
— AwakenedOutlaw⚒️ (@AwakenedOutlaw) March 20, 2026
Word to the wise. When using ChatGPT to pen your legal arguments, consider double-checking its citations. https://t.co/oqTWy8nkY0
And if you get caught, don't double down by openly and obviously lying to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of your state.
It doesn't seem like a very high bar to clear, yet it is one that exceeds the reach of Deborah Leslie, hopefully soon to be EX-attorney in Georgia.
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