The lead defense attorney for convicted rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, from the hip hop group Fugees, reportedly used an experimental AI program to generate his botched closing argument. A new legal filing argues that, “The closing argument was deficient, unhelpful and a missed opportunity that prejudiced the defense.”
Michel’s lead defense lawyer, David Kenner, botched “the single most important portion” of his jury trial when he improperly relied on the experimental generative AI program, EyeLevel.AI, to draft his closing argument, a new legal filing states, according to a report by NBC News.
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, center, a member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees, accompanied by defense lawyer David Kenner, right, arrives at federal court for his trial in an alleged campaign finance conspiracy, Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
“Kenner’s closing argument made frivolous arguments, misapprehended the required elements, conflated the schemes and ignored critical weaknesses in the government’s case,” a brief from Michel’s new counsel, ArentFox Schiff, said.
In April, the rapper was convicted on federal charges of conspiring with financier Jho Low, a fugitive from Malaysia, in three alleged lobbying schemes to influence two different presidential administrations in the United States.
Michel’s new lawyers maintain that Kenner’s defense of the rapper was greatly inadequate, in part, due to AI having generated his closing argument in a complex case that even featured testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“The AI program failed Kenner, and Kenner failed Michel,” Michel’s new lawyers said. “The closing argument was deficient, unhelpful and a missed opportunity that prejudiced the defense.”
What’s even worse, is that Kenner and his co-counsel Alon Israely “appear to have had” an undisclosed financial interest in CaseFile Connect, a company that has been a “technology partner” to EyeLevel.AI, the ArentFox brief claimed.
The rapper’s lawyers assert that Kenner and Israely looked at this trial as an opportunity to advance their own financial interests.
ArentFox partner Peter Zeidenberg said Michel’s former publicist revealed that Kenner had used the AI program to craft his closing argument, and that ArentFox later found a May press release that was issued by EyeLevel.AI.
The press release featured a quote from Kenner, who said that the AI program “turned hours or days of legal work into seconds,” and called his use of the program “a look into the future of how cases will be conducted.”
An EyeLevel.AI spokesperson told NBC News that Kenner and Israely do not have a financial stake in its AI program.
In response to criticism of Kenner using the company’s AI tool for his closing argument, the spokesperson said, “EyeLevel’s AI for legal is a powerful tool for human lawyers to make human decisions, but do so faster and with far greater information at their fingertips.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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