This judge should lose his job
But this definitely feels like like digging up someone's corpse and performing ventriloquy for testimony, only with better technology. It should probably be illegal for the same reasons, and not just in court.
it would be a nice touch for the prosecution to throw a bed sheet over their head and yell "BOOOOOOOO! I'm the ghost of [victim]! He killed me , your honor!" pointed finger
Only slightly less absurd than the witch trial in Monty Python's Holy Grail.
Over the last several years I've become convinced that most of the insidious corruption in the country lives in the courts.
The issue is it’s not real testimony one way or the other, it’s a fabrication. And allowing it is opening the door for all kinds of things. I think it’s the right move.
This video was played in the sentencing phase. In a non-capital case, the sentencing phase is normally judge-only, the jury has already been discharged. So the video had no impact on the jury, since by the time it was played their role in the case was already over.
(My opinion - it seems this AI video has been part of their way of processing grief and honouring the deceased.)
It seems the lawyers representing the killer have found a loophole that will eventually lead to every prosecution being thrown out on the same technicality. That would potentially lead to the killer being released, and not serving the 10 year sentence.
Also, the judge says explicitly that it was AI? But that it was also "genuine"? Very hard to follow.
The AI statement was effectively a statement from the victim's sister. She can get up on the stand and talk about how genial and forgiving her brother was herself, and it will likely result in a similar sentence. Then, that sentence will be based on actual testimony and not invented testimony.
And to those questioning why the lawyer challenged the sentence, a defense attorney is going to look at any opportunity to argue for a lesser sentence as one worth taking. You may think this testimony yielded a "better" sentence for the defendant, but I'm sure the attorney thinks otherwise.
The prosecutors asked for 9 years, the defense asked for 7 years, and the family asked for the maximum available which was 10.5 years. The judge went with 10.5 years.
The sentence the judge handed down was the maximum available and more than the prosecutors requested. The defence was apealing the sentencing, which was the judge's choice, not the jury's verdict. The judge was influenced by the video (as the appeals court concluded) and, regardless of the intentions of the prosecution, seeing a fake image of the victim "forgiving" the defendant could have pushed him towards a tougher sentence.
I doubt the direction of the influence actually mattered for the appeals court decision, though - they just vacated the sentence as the video wasn't allowed by law - and as the sentence was the maximum possible for the conviction it doesn't sound like there was much risk in appealing.
If someone wants to watch fiction, it can do it in a more appropriate place and not in a court of law.
Family can read fictional poems, personal thoughts, videos or photo montages. They can put up a picture of the deceased, and make statements like if "Bob was here, he would say x, y, and z"
The point is to influence the sentence.
Provided that the family was very clear this was not historic video, and I think it was, then one can see how this isn't obviously out of bounds
That's why you have the family of the deceased reading tearful letters, crayon drawings from children missing their parents, and other things of that nature introduced during pre sentencing impact statements.
It's ok. Not only the second source published here contradicts the first (nothing was quashed, killer got maximum), the judge's speech is contradictory itself. "As angry as you are ... I heard the forgiveness". How could he hear both anger and forgiveness? It's either one or another (or schizophrenia if both). And if he heard the forgiveness, why is the sentence maximal?
But yeah it would be funny if this backfires. 10 years for murder seems like a great deal for the murderer!
It's a lot better than being murdered, of course. And it's better than say twenty years. But this still isn't saying much, right?! There are no good answers here, only less-bad answers. The whole situation is a tragedy all around - one which arose out of a fucking traffic disagreement.
Which is why fundamentally we need to move past this societal obsession with "solving" problems with firearms. The dynamic of firearms is pure spite - they make a bad situation for you into a slightly worse situation, while making it much worse for the other guy. And while this is a necessary dynamic in some situations, it is most certainly not a first-line answer of how one should be approaching every little difficulty. (a traffic disagreement!)
But yet we've got mass media that demonstrates them as if they're some kind of simple "remote control" for other people. "I've got the gun, now you do what I say". "Oops, now you have the gun, I have to do what you say" and on and on and on. Obviously this is quite idyllic compared to what ends up happening in the real world.
(Note to any reflexively-downvoting gun-thumpers: I'm not actually arguing to make firearms illegal or anything! I'm a gun owner myself. They're a tool - a tool whose dynamic has been poorly understood in popular culture)
Here in Canada (where we supposedly like restorative justice and giving people second chances) the penalty for murder is life in prison.
The non-parole period (the amount that must be served) is set by the judge at sentencing and ranges from a minimum of 10 years for second-degree murder. (The longest period is never: indefinite incarceration until proven to be safe around others -- mostly reserved for serial killers.)
That is to say: the absolute shortest sentence you can get in Canada for murder is ten years.
In America I believe it's often many decades if not the death penalty, no?
Even Norway - renowned for the progressive humanity of its legal system - mandates at least 8 years jail for murder.
In just about any country anywhere 10 years for murder is, objectively, a relatively light sentence for murder.
Not at all sure what the sentencing for murder has to do with firearms, really. Other than firearms being an effective way to murder. Most murders in my country are beatings and stabbings, probably since firearms are not as widely available. Does that prevent a few? Probably. Still seems non sequitur.
that's a leap i'm unwilling to take.
NGL, I'd take that over a jury trial any day of the week, if I were in fact innocent. Ditto for a trial by a biased or incompetent judge.
And people don't trust AI and don't like being judged by an algorithm.
You've been spending too much time arguing about LLMs on the internet, and it's affected your thinking. It's just like boomers in the 70-90s worrying about the TV. But then IQ scores actually rose during those decades.