The Initial Report | Supplemental No. 01

Bryant v. State

The Initial Report · Supplemental · No. 01

Payne v. State

S26A0459 · Supreme Court of Georgia · Decided May 5, 2026

Published May 8, 2026

When False Law Became a Court Order

A murder appeal was sidetracked after AI-generated authorities were filed by the State, incorporated into a trial-court order denying a new trial, and followed by additional faulty authorities in Supreme Court briefing. The Supreme Court of Georgia did not ban responsible AI use. It sanctioned ADA Deborah Leslie for filing nonexistent and misattributed law without independent verification, admonished the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office, vacated the trial-court order, and required the trial judge to issue a new order not prepared by either party.¹

May 7, 2019
Hannah Payne shoots Kenneth Herring, 62, after following him from the scene of a Clayton County traffic collision.²

Dec. 12, 2023
A Clayton County jury finds Payne guilty on all counts in the shooting death of Herring.³

Dec. 15, 2023
Judge Jewel C. Scott sentences Payne to life with the possibility of parole plus consecutive terms totaling 13 years.⁴

Dec. 26, 2023
Payne files a motion for new trial. The motion is later amended on March 27, 2025.⁵

Aug. 6, 2025
The trial court hears Payne’s amended motion for new trial.⁶

Sept. 12, 2025
The trial court denies the motion in a 33-page order. The Supreme Court later says the order was largely prepared by ADA Deborah Leslie and contained nonexistent or misattributed authorities.⁷

Proposed Order Problem
The failure crossed from advocacy into adjudication. The September 12 order cited Bryant v. State, 268 Ga. App. 362 (2004), and Hamm v. State, 294 Ga. 791, 795 (2014). The Supreme Court later said Bryant appears not to exist and Hamm does not stand for the proposition cited. Both authorities appeared in State trial-court briefing and in the order denying a new trial. In practical terms, the proposed-order workflow became the transfer mechanism.¹⁴

Dec. 16, 2025
The State files its Supreme Court brief. Leslie later withdraws reliance on nine authorities from that brief.⁸

Mar. 18, 2026
Oral argument. Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson asks Leslie whether the flagged citations were in the version of the order she submitted to the trial court. Leslie says she does not believe they were.⁹

Candor Issue
The courtroom answer created a separate problem. Asked whether the flagged citations were in the order she submitted, Leslie answered: “No, your honor, I do not believe so, they were not. I did prepare an order. That order was revised.” The Supreme Court then noted that the same cases were cited in the State’s briefing opposing Payne’s motion for new trial. The majority sanctioned under Supreme Court Rule 7, OCGA § 15-1-3(4), and inherent authority. The partial dissent invoked Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 3.3 by number.¹⁵

Mar. 20, 2026
The Supreme Court orders supplemental briefing on nine authorities in the September 12 order that either do not exist or do not support the propositions for which they were cited.¹⁰

Mar. 27, 2026
Leslie files a supplemental brief and affidavit acknowledging that AI-generated citations were not independently verified before inclusion in State filings and the proposed order. She identifies 12 additional faulty authorities in trial-court briefing and withdraws reliance on nine appellate authorities.¹¹

Verification Gap
Leslie acknowledged that AI-generated case citations were not independently verified before inclusion in the State’s briefs or proposed order. The AI tool is not named in the opinion or in the accessible reporting reviewed for this draft. Public reporting says DA Tasha Mosley told WSB-TV there was “a clear policy that AI should not be used.” The court record says Mosley apologized, said the office would expand internet and social-media policies to address AI, and reported that strict disciplinary action had been taken. The Initial Report found no opinion text or accessible public reporting identifying a supervisory citation audit before the filings went out.¹⁶

May 5, 2026
The Supreme Court admonishes Leslie and the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office, suspends Leslie’s privilege to practice before the Supreme Court of Georgia for six months, imposes 12 additional CLE hours as a reinstatement condition, vacates the September 12 order, and remands for a new order not prepared by either party.¹²

Scope of Sanction
The sanction is narrow but public. Leslie is barred for six months from practicing before the Supreme Court of Georgia, not suspended from Georgia practice generally by this order. Reinstatement requires 12 additional CLE hours in ethics, brief writing, and proper AI use. The Court admonished the Clayton County DA’s Office, vacated the trial-court order, remanded for a new ruling, and barred either party from drafting the replacement order. State Bar, Judicial Qualifications Commission, and other discipline remain separate.¹⁷

Pending
The trial court must issue a new order on Payne’s motion for new trial. The Supreme Court did not decide the merits of Payne’s ineffective-assistance claims.¹³

Case-Law Impact

Reserved

Georgia and federal authority to be scoped separately. No doctrinal effect is asserted in this supplemental.

Source Record

1. Payne v. State, No. S26A0459, slip op. at 1–5 (Ga. May 5, 2026). The opinion says Payne was sentenced to life plus 13 years; Leslie filed briefing with nonexistent or unsupported cases; the trial-court order was largely prepared by Leslie; the Court admonished Leslie and the DA’s Office, suspended Leslie’s privilege before the Court, vacated the order, and remanded.
2. Court TV, “GA v. Hannah Payne: Car Crash Vigilante Trial,” Dec. 15, 2023; WSB-TV, May 5, 2026 coverage. Court TV places the May 7, 2019 crash-and-shooting sequence at around 6 p.m. and identifies Herring as 62.
3. Court TV, “Car Crash Vigilante Trial: Watch the Verdict,” Dec. 12, 2023.
4. Fox 5 Atlanta, Dec. 15, 2023; Court TV, Dec. 15, 2023. Fox 5 identifies Judge Jewel C. Scott and the sentence as life with parole plus eight and five consecutive years; Court TV describes life plus 13 years.
5. Clayton County Superior Court order denying motion for new trial, Sept. 12, 2025, at 1. The order states the motion was filed Dec. 26, 2023 and amended March 27, 2025.
6. Clayton County Superior Court order, Sept. 12, 2025, at 1. The order states the matter came before the court on Aug. 6, 2025.
7. Payne slip op. at 1–2; Clayton County Superior Court order, Sept. 12, 2025. The Supreme Court describes the trial-court order as largely prepared by Leslie and containing nonexistent or unsupported authorities.
8. Payne slip op. at 2–3. Leslie withdrew reliance on nine authorities cited in the State’s Dec. 16, 2025 appellate brief.
9. Payne slip op. at 2 n.1; AJC, May 2026. The opinion preserves Leslie’s oral-argument answer; AJC also reports the exchange.
10. Payne slip op. at 2. The body of the opinion says the Court entered the supplemental-briefing order on March 20, 2026.
11. Payne slip op. at 2–3. Leslie acknowledged AI use and lack of independent verification, identified 12 additional trial-court authorities, and withdrew nine appellate authorities.
12. Payne slip op. at 4–5. Sanction, CLE condition, vacatur, remand, and proposed-order restriction.
13. Payne slip op. at 5. The judgment vacates and remands; the opinion states the Court was sidetracked from resolving the merits.
14. Payne slip op. at 3 n.2; Clayton County order at 25–26. The Supreme Court identifies Bryant as apparently nonexistent and Hamm as unsupported for the proposition cited; the Clayton County order shows Hamm in the citizen’s-arrest analysis.
15. Payne slip op. at 2 n.1, 4, 7. The majority’s authority is Rule 7, OCGA § 15-1-3(4), and inherent authority; the partial dissent cites Rule 3.3.
16. Payne slip op. at 4 n.3; WSB-TV, Mar. 24 and Mar. 30, 2026. The court record describes Mosley’s letter; WSB reports Mosley’s “clear policy” quote and says disciplinary actions were not revealed.
17. Payne slip op. at 4–5 & n.4. The order suspends Leslie’s privilege before the Supreme Court of Georgia for six months, requires 12 additional CLE hours as a reinstatement condition, and says separate disciplinary proceedings are unaffected.

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