{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-07T03:09:24.588Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"kentucky","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"regulatory","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":2,"minors":1,"coreRelations":2,"contextualRelations":1,"mixedRelations":1,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-sixth-circuit-removes-appointed-defence-lawyer-over-cocounsel-drafted-briefs-delaying-indigent-defendants-appeal","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'qualified for a two-level enhancement under § 3B1.1(c) of the Sentencing Guidelines for his leadership role during drug-trafficking activities.'; 'serving as court-appointed counsel for an indigent defendant through a publicly funded program'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A lawyer appointed under the Criminal Justice Act represented an indigent defendant appealing a two-level leadership enhancement to his drug-trafficking sentence in the Sixth Circuit.","causal_attribution":"The court's own description of the appointment and the appeal."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'The first tell was the file name of the principal brief:'; '“CoCounsel Skill Results.” CoCounsel is the name of Westlaw’s internal artificial-intelligence'; 'But the purported direct quotations do not appear in their cited sources.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The first tell was the file name of the principal brief: \"CoCounsel Skill Results.\" CoCounsel is the name of Westlaw's internal artificial-intelligence platform.'; 'But the purported direct quotations do not appear in their cited sources.'; 'misrepresent the holdings of both United States v. Washington'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The court found that the principal brief's file name was 'CoCounsel Skill Results', that three quotations in the briefs appear in no legal authority, and that the briefs misrepresented the holdings of two precedents.","causal_attribution":"The court's findings, quoted verbatim in the Volokh post; the opinion PDF carries the same text."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'he directed an unnamed “staff” member to'; 'upload district court documents to Westlaw’s CoCounsel program to create a first draft of the'; 'repeated that same process for the reply brief.'; 'He concedes that the three inaccurate quotations'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'he directed an unnamed \"staff\" member to upload district court documents to Westlaw's CoCounsel program to create a first draft of the principal brief.'; 'He concedes that the three inaccurate quotations identified above were the product of artificial intelligence, that they do not appear in any legal authorities'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The lawyer admitted that a staff member uploaded district court documents to Westlaw's CoCounsel to create a first draft of the principal brief, that he repeated the process for the reply, and that the three inaccurate quotations were produced by artificial intelligence and not verified.","causal_attribution":"The lawyer's show-cause response as the court records it; the court's opinion documents the admission."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'shall not be compensated under the Criminal Justice Act for his time spent on'; 'to consider disciplinary proceedings under Sixth'; 'Disciplinary Clerk for the Kentucky Bar Association'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The court ordered that the lawyer receive no Criminal Justice Act compensation for the appeal, forwarded the opinion to the circuit's chief judge to consider disciplinary proceedings, and served it on the Kentucky Bar Association's disciplinary clerk.","causal_attribution":"The court's orders."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'different appellate counsel to file new briefs—further delaying resolution of'; 'reset the briefing schedule upon appointment of replacement counsel.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"By a separate order the same day the court removed the lawyer, directed the appointment of replacement counsel, locked the briefs he had filed and reset the briefing schedule, which the court said further delayed resolution of the defendant's criminal appeal.","causal_attribution":"The court's own account of its separate order and of the delay."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'utilizing Westlaw CoCounsel “in this way for a Court of Appeals brief.”'; 'has never been disciplined over his 40-year career'; 'candor in acknowledging his improper use of artificial intelligence.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'first time utilizing Westlaw CoCounsel \"in this way for a Court of Appeals brief.\"'; 'has never been disciplined over his 40-year career'; 'his candor in acknowledging his improper use of artificial intelligence.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The lawyer said this was his first use of CoCounsel in this way for an appeals brief and that he had not been disciplined in a 40-year career; the court acknowledged his timely response and candour while finding his conduct inexcusable.","causal_attribution":"The lawyer's explanations and the court's assessment, as the opinion records them; recorded as mitigation."},{"id":"c7","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'***LOCKED PURSUANT TO ORDER ENTERED 04/03/2026***APPELLANT BRIEF filed by'; 'Certificate of Service: 10/21/2025. Argument Request: not requested. [25-5623]'; '***LOCKED PURSUANT TO ORDER ENTERED 04/03/2026***REPLY BRIEF filed by Attorney'; 'Certificate of Service: 12/26/2025. [25-5623]'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The docket records that the principal brief for the defendant was filed on 21 October 2025 and the reply brief on 26 December 2025, and that both entries were locked under the order of 3 April 2026.","causal_attribution":"Clerk docket entries; they date the filings and do not describe their contents."}],"effects":[{"label":"indigent defendant's criminal appeal delayed while replacement counsel files new briefs","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"court-appointed lawyer denied compensation for the appeal and referred for disciplinary consideration","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/26a0105p-06.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Sixth Circuit published per curiam opinion, No. 25-5623, decided and filed 3 April 2026; PDF read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"sixth-circuit-opinion-3-apr-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://reason.com/volokh/2026/04/09/the-first-tell-was-the-file-name-of-the-principal-brief-cocounsel-skill-results/","kind":"commentary_with_filing_excerpt","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Volokh Conspiracy (Reason), 9 April 2026, quoting the same opinion at length; read in full (HTTP 200). Same origin as the opinion.","independence_group":"sixth-circuit-opinion-3-apr-2026"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=docket_id%3A70724463%20BRIEF&type=rd","kind":"court_docket_index","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener search API listing of docket entries for Sixth Circuit No. 25-5623 (RECAP), read on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); entry descriptions as entered by the clerk. Party and counsel names in the entries are not reproduced.","independence_group":"sixth-circuit-docket-25-5623"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["justice","work"],"unknowns":["How long the appeal is delayed, and the outcome of any disciplinary proceedings."],"geography":{"basis":"The appeal is from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the lawyer practises in Kentucky (opinion).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published with communicated_with and informed_decision_about: the court documents that a court-appointed defence lawyer filed briefs drafted with Westlaw's CoCounsel that carried quotations found in no authority, and, acting on those briefs, removed him, ordered new counsel and briefing that delayed the indigent defendant's criminal appeal, and denied him compensation. The harm reaches a criminal defendant who did not use the tool.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The court found that the principal brief's file name was 'CoCounsel Skill Results' and that three quotations in the briefs appear in no legal authority. The lawyer admitted that a staff member used Westlaw's CoCounsel to produce the first draft, that he repeated the process for the reply, and that the false quotations were produced by artificial intelligence. Reading those briefs, the court removed him, ordered new counsel and new briefs for the defendant, and denied him compensation.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with","informed_decision_about"]},"name":"Sixth Circuit removes court-appointed defence lawyer over CoCounsel-drafted briefs with false quotations, delaying an indigent defendant's appeal","summary":"In a published opinion of 3 April 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit addressed the briefs a lawyer appointed under the Criminal Justice Act had filed for an indigent defendant appealing a sentencing enhancement in a drug-trafficking case. The court noticed that the principal brief's file name was 'CoCounsel Skill Results' and found three quotations that appear in no legal authority and misstatements of two precedents. The lawyer admitted that a staff member had used Westlaw's CoCounsel to create the first draft, that he repeated the process for the reply, and that the false quotations came from artificial intelligence he did not verify. The court denied him compensation for the appeal, referred the opinion for possible disciplinary proceedings and to the Kentucky Bar Association, and by separate order removed him, locked his briefs and ordered replacement counsel to file new ones, which it said further delayed resolution of the defendant's appeal. The court acknowledged his candour and his 40 years without discipline.","incidentDate":"2025-10-21","incidentEndDate":"2026-04-03","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-04-03","aiSystem":"Westlaw CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters), used by a lawyer's staff member to produce the first drafts of a principal and a reply brief","aiProduct":"CoCounsel","aiCompany":"Thomson Reuters","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["legal_harm","professional_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The court documents that briefs drafted with Westlaw's CoCounsel and filed unverified by a court-appointed lawyer led it to remove him and order new counsel and briefs, further delaying an indigent defendant's criminal appeal; the lawyer was denied compensation for the appeal and referred for disciplinary consideration.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two: the defendant, whose appeal the court says was further delayed, and the lawyer, who was denied compensation and referred. The lawyer's staff member ran the tool and is not counted; no other harmed person is described.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/26a0105p-06.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 25-5623, opinion decided and filed 3 April 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-19T03:16:56.688661+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T03:16:56.688661+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["legal","ai-fabricated-quotations","court-appointed-counsel","criminal-appeal","sanction","cocounsel"]},{"id":"2025-heacock-ai-sextortion-death","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Local teenager Eli Heacock died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound last month'; 'he took his life on Feb 28'; 'at 11:30 p.m. on that Thursday night, Eli's twin sister found him'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'He died by suicide shortly after receiving the message, CBS affiliate KFDA reported'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'After their 16-year-old son died by suicide, a Kentucky family is pushing for stronger sextortion laws'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Elijah Heacock died Feb. 28 at a local hospital, WBKO-TV reported'; 'the Barren County Sheriff's Office responded to the hospital on Feb. 27'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Elijah Heacock, 16, a Caverna High School student in Barren County, Kentucky, died by suicide on 28 February 2025 after being found injured at home on the night of 27 February.","causal_attribution":"The death is reported independently by WKMS (own reporting) and CBS (citing KFDA), with Spectrum and the WBKO/ABC relay consistent; the 27/28 February dates come from WKMS and NewsNation."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'During a search of Eli's phone, AI-generated images used to extort the young man were discovered. The offender created the images, some sexually explicit, and sent them to Eli. They then threatened to release the pictures unless Eli sent them $3,000.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'when Elijah received a threatening text with an A.I.-generated nude photo of himself demanding he pay $3,000 to keep it from being sent to friends and family, everything changed'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'a perpetrator threatened him, saying he needed to send $3,000 or they would release sexually explicit images of him'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'fake, AI-generated nude images'; 'Though the photos were not real, it's unclear whether Elijah Heacock knew they were AI-generated.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Investigators found on his phone AI-generated images of him, some sexually explicit, sent by an anonymous extortionist who threatened to release them unless he paid $3,000.","causal_attribution":"WKMS attributes the AI-generated finding to investigators' search of the phone; CBS's account rests on the parents' interview. Whether he knew the images were fake is unknown (NewsNation)."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'His parents told Spectrum News 1 that Heacock sent $50, but did not have enough to cover the rest.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Shannon Heacock said she found texts indicating that her son had sent some money to the scammer, to which the scammer replied, \"This is not enough,\" she told ABC News.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"Best friend: 'The last message I got from him was, \"I love you so much\"' after Eli asked to borrow money that night.","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"He sent a partial payment of $50 and the extortionist replied that it was 'not enough'.","causal_attribution":"Both accounts are the parents' descriptions of the messages on his phone, given to two separate outlets; the $50 figure appears only in Spectrum."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'The FBI continues to investigate. The family hopes the exploiter will be caught and charged with murder.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'a sheriff's detective reviewed Elijah Heacock's phone and escalated the case to the FBI'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The Barren County Sheriff's Office escalated the case to the FBI, which was still investigating; no arrest has been reported.","causal_attribution":"Investigation status as of the inspected reports (March and June 2025); nothing later was inspected."},{"id":"c5","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed a bill into law this month, making sextortion a felony. It also mandates education about sextortion in schools and in law enforcement agencies.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'state lawmakers passed a bill that establishes sexual extortion as a felony, and mandates training about the topic at schools and law enforcement agencies. Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Kentucky, signed it into law.'; Rep. Guthrie on the Take It Down Act","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The recently-passed \"Take It Down\" Act... makes it a federal crime to post real and fake sexually explicit images'; 'They said they hope the \"Take It Down\" Act will make a difference.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Kentucky's governor signed a law in March 2025 making sexual extortion a felony and mandating education in schools and law-enforcement agencies; the parents publicly supported the federal Take It Down Act, signed in May 2025.","causal_attribution":"Legislative context reported by three outlets; the Kentucky law is described, not inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"a 16-year-old was extorted with AI-generated sexual images of himself and died by suicide","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.wkms.org/health/2025-03-24/suicide-of-ky-teen-investigated-as-financial-sextortion","kind":"public_radio_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2025-03-24; WKU Public Radio, Lisa Autry); own interviews with his mother, father and best friend; quotes the KSP Electronic Crime Branch commander.","independence_group":"wkms"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sextortion-generative-ai-scam-elijah-heacock-take-it-down-act/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 from the Internet Archive capture of 28 December 2025 (datePublished 2025-05-31; CBS Saturday Morning interview with the parents); the live URL answers HTTP 406 to this box. The article attributes the death report to CBS affiliate KFDA and the advocacy to WLKY.","independence_group":"cbs"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2025/04/10/sextortion-kentucky-elijah-heacock","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2025-04-10; Glasgow, Ky. dateline; the parents' own statements to Spectrum News 1).","independence_group":"spectrum"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/tech/ai/teen-suicide-ai-images/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 from the Internet Archive capture of 26 November 2025 (datePublished 2025-06-11); the live URL answers HTTP 403. NewsNation relays WBKO-TV and ABC News interviews with the parents, so it is grouped with those originals rather than counted as independent.","independence_group":"wbko-abc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","privacy"],"unknowns":["The tool used to generate the images and the identity or location of the extortionist are not reported; no arrest has been reported in the inspected sources.","Whether he knew the images were AI-generated is unclear (NewsNation).","When the extortion messages began is not reported; the record uses the night of 27 February (when his friend received his last messages and the sheriff reviewed the phone) and the 28 February death date.","The earliest local report (WBKO-TV, cited by NewsNation) was not inspected: its URL answers HTTP 404; the reported_date uses the earliest inspected report (WKMS, 24 March 2025).","The CBS article's cited affiliate reports (KFDA, WLKY) were not inspected.","Investigation status after June 2025 was not researched in this review."],"geography":{"basis":"Event and residence: Barren County (Glasgow area), Kentucky, per WKMS ('In southern Kentucky, the Barren County community') and Spectrum's Glasgow, Ky. dateline. No court proceeding is reported; the extortionist has not been identified.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case with a reported death: AI-generated sexual images of a minor were used to extort him and he died by suicide. The death and the AI connection are each carried by two independent inspected chains (WKMS own reporting and CBS), meeting the additional death rule; causation rests on investigators and the family, recorded as supported, not established. He is named because his parents campaign publicly in his name; the method of death is not described here.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"WKMS reports that investigators searching his phone found AI-generated images used to extort him, and quotes the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch commander on AI-generated exploitation; CBS separately describes the extortion message as carrying an AI-generated nude photo of him. The generation tool is not identified in any inspected source.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Kentucky: Elijah Heacock, 16, died by suicide after a sextortion demand backed by AI-generated nude images of him","summary":"Elijah Heacock, a 16-year-old Caverna High School student in Barren County, Kentucky, died by suicide on 28 February 2025. Investigators searching his phone found AI-generated images of him, some sexually explicit, that an anonymous extortionist had sent with a demand for $3,000 and a threat to share them with his family and friends; his parents say he sent a small partial payment and was told it was 'not enough'. The Barren County Sheriff's Office escalated the case to the FBI, which was still investigating in the inspected reports; no arrest has been reported. His parents have campaigned publicly, Kentucky made sextortion a felony in March 2025, and the family supported the federal Take It Down Act.","incidentDate":"2025-02-27","incidentEndDate":"2025-02-28","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-03-24","aiSystem":"AI image-generation or manipulation tools (unspecified; investigators described the extortion images as AI-generated)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["death","exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A 16-year-old was extorted with AI-generated sexual images of himself and a $3,000 demand, and died by suicide the same night his best friend received his last message; investigators and his parents connect the death to the sextortion.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, Elijah Heacock, was depicted in the AI-generated images and died; his family members are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.wkms.org/health/2025-03-24/suicide-of-ky-teen-investigated-as-financial-sextortion","primarySourceLabel":"WKMS / WKU Public Radio, 24 March 2025: investigators found AI-generated images used to extort him; KSP Electronic Crime Branch commander quoted","firstPublishedAt":"2026-03-09T05:43:08.739008+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:04.61944+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["sextortion","deepfake","minor","kentucky","suicide","depicted-or-impersonated","take-it-down-act"]}]}