A Las Vegas district judge has sanctioned defense attorney Dean Kajioka for improper use of artificial intelligence in a court filing related to the Piero’s Italian Cuisine bombing case.
Court records from July 29 and 30, 2026, detail the penalty.
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Kajioka filed a reply brief for his client, Robert Schwieger, who faces charges including conspiracy to commit first-degree arson and using explosives to damage property.
The judge struck the filing and imposed a $500 sanction payable to the Clark County library.
The court found errors and inconsistencies indicating AI use, including a fabricated legal citation.
Prosecutors noted the brief's style and formatting differed markedly from Kajioka's prior submissions, containing a non-existent case reference they termed an AI hallucination.
Prosecutor's Warning
Chief Deputy District Attorney Eckley Keach stated in court, "Unguarded use of AI is an existential threat to the practice of law and the fair administration of justice.
AI will never understand the human cost of a criminal case, not to a defendant, not to the victims of crime."
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Keach explained that AI can produce superficially correct work that misses legal nuances, burdening opposing counsel and the court.
He accused Kajioka of violating ethical rules by misrepresenting authorship of the brief and defending the erroneous citation as a mere human typo.
"There’s no way that Mr. Kajioka submitted a 70-page argument two days after the state filed its return in a style, syntax, and citation format completely alien to his prior legal work," Keach added.
Kajioka responded by defending his integrity and denying intentional wrongdoing. He acknowledged the citation error but said it was promptly corrected once discovered.
"After further inquiry, apparently AI was used to assist in drafting," Kajioka admitted, while emphasizing he personally does not use AI and that his staff likely did.
Keach noted this admission contradicted Kajioka’s earlier public statement denying any AI use in the case.
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The court's sanction highlights increasing legal challenges regarding AI's role in law practice and the ethical responsibilities of attorneys to ensure accuracy and honesty in filings.
