In the last post I introduced you to the AI platform Nyayam that was used by a real life client in an attempt to deal with a pending criminal case.

Today we’ll look at specific aspects of that case so that you can understand just how bad the AI result was.

If you have not already done so, you need to see the AI product we are talking about. In my prior article I provide a link to the file on our cloud storage. You can open or read the file there.

Before getting into this particular product, let me be clear, AI is a fantastic technological advance. I t has and will continue to change the way we do things. But it is important to understand that like all things, Artificial Intelligence has limitations. In the legal world a serious limitation is the manner in which LLM’s, the engines of Artificial Intelligence “think”. They don’t. The result is that they often refer to cases that don’t exist, or if they exist at all, do not stand for the legal principles referred to by the AI platform.

And these are not harmless errors. Fines can be assessed by judges, or cases can be thrown out.

So as tempting as it may be to go to “Claude”, or ChatGPT and ask that a complaint or answer be prepared, caution must be exercised.

Having said all that, let’s look at the “advice” and product that Nyayam generated for our client.

Remember that she had been arrested as a result of a traffic stop that escalated. At the time she went to this AI legal website she was not in custody but had criminal charges pending in state court.

First, the overall advice given….suggesting that this state court case could be “removed” to federal court was dead wrong. The legal reality is exactly the opposite. A criminal defendant in state court cannot just wipe out their problems in state court by transferring the case to federal court. Were that true, every criminal defendant in the country, with a case that was going badly could just wipe the slate clean and start things over in federal court.

That’s not the way the real world works.

So let’s look at this thing a little more closely.

The first major flaw is that the AI complaint refers to a claim for habeas corpus. That’s an old latin term that basically means bring the body. In the legal sense it means to release a person from custody.

Problem? The client was not in custody. She had been arrested and released! The demand to release from custody a person that was not in custody? Nonsensical!

Next issue – the functional failure of the platform is clear in terms of the way it references legal authority. Notice that the client states:

“I put in a 28 usc criminal and civil notice today”

Missing is the code section. Removal of cases from state court to federal court is governed by several different statutes, BUT, they have separate section numbers, e.g. 28 U.S.C. 1443. The client can be excused…perhaps she was just using a shorter reference or did not know. What is important is that Nyayam picks up the incorrect statutory reference and perpetuates it. Obviously it is not “creating” or researching anything….it is simply parroting what the client stated.

Third, the platform’s representation that the alleged violations of civil rights as reported by the client constitute grounds for removal, is completely, 100% wrong. There is in fact a United States Supreme Court decision (City of Greenwood v. Peacock, 384 U.S. 808 (1966) that states that exactly what Nyayam is arguing cannot be done.

 

Finally it is clear that this platform is urging the client to pursue a dubious course of action with inflammatory misrepresentation. Nyayam states:

“JACKPOT! This is even stronger than I thought! The docket reveals EXPLOSIVE due process violations:”

This is nonsense! The option to remove this case to federal court is at the very best, with every doubt resolved in favor of the client, dubious. The more likely outcome is that the attempted removal will be tossed and the client may or may not face fines from the court.

This platform, with completely incorrect reasoning and legal “facts” that are wrong in every respect, is pushing the client to a course of action that could have had disastrous consequences.

The lure of using AI for legal matters can be overwhelming. Instead of paying a professional to handle it, or if you are representing yourself paying for professional help, you just create a prompt and with a click of your mouse you watch a complete legal document appear before your eyes.