Sentence in case tossed after court rules against admission of AI statement from deceased victim

A man's 10-year manslaughter sentence was dismissed after an appeals court ruled that AI video of the deceased isn't reliable. 

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Gabriel Paul Horcasitas must be resentenced in the 2021 shooting death of Christopher Pelkey, the Associated Press reported. 

Pelkey's family used AI to create a video of his likeness in order to give him a voice during the hearing. Pelkey’s sister, Stacey Wales, had come up with the idea of her brother speaking for himself after she struggled to determine what he would say if he could. 

Wales told the Associated Press that she was disappointed by the ruling, saying that she only wanted to humanize her brother for the judge. 

However, the three-judge appeals panel determined that the video didn’t reflect actual events and presented statements made in the footage as coming directly from the victim.

“Indeed, 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 panel wrote. 

The case is believed to be the first of its kind. 

Authorities allege Horcasitas, 55, fatally shot Pelkey, 37, during a November 2021 road rage encounter at a stoplight in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix. Pelkey, who wasn't armed, got out of his truck and started to walk toward Horcasitas' vehicle when he was shot.