The family of a road rage victim in Arizona used his likeness to create a posthumous AI video played at his killer’s sentencing last year. Now, an appeals court has vacated the sentence, calling the decision to allow the video a “fundamental error.”
Last May, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Todd Lang gave Gabriel Paul Horcasitas the maximum sentence for the fatal shooting of Christopher Pelkey, 37, on Nov. 13, 2021. Horcasitas, 54, was convicted of manslaughter and endangerment.
The 10½-year sentence was handed down after an AI-generated video was played in court in which a replica of Pelkey voiced “forgiveness” for Horcasitas.
On Wednesday, the Arizona Court of Appeals in Phoenix ordered a resentencing, writing that the video “clearly impacted the sentencing judge, who said he ‘loved’ the video and felt it ‘was genuine.’”
