Arizona Court of Appeals orders resentencing in road-rage case over AI victim video

PHOENIX (NBC, KYMA) - An Arizona man convicted in a deadly 2021 road-rage shooting will be resentenced after a state appeals court found an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video depicting the victim unfairly affected his original sentence.

Stacey Wales, the older sister of Christopher Pelkey, is sharing her reaction about the recent ruling by the Arizona Court of Appeals.

"It's not lost on me that humanity is uncomfortable with change and things that are new, and can also feel scared about those," Wales expressed.

Pelkey, 37, was shot and killed in a road-rage incident back in 2021, and the man convicted of the shooting, Gabriel Horcasitas, 54, was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison.

Part of a video created by Wales' husband played in court, following the victim's impact statements.

The video recreated Pelkey's appearance and voice showing an AI version of him addressing the court, his family, and Horcasitas.

"When it was unveiled in the courtroom that day, it was the first time my family and the judge and anybody else privy to this case had ever seen this, and it accomplished what my goal was, which was to humanize Chris," Wales shared.

The video later drew national attention, and the Court of Appeals ordered a resentencing for the man convicted of manslaughter Wednesday.

While the conviction stands, his sentencing has been vacated.

Phoenix-based attorney Josh Kolsrud said the appellate court saw dangers in the video that weren't apparent at the same the trial judge looked at the case.

"The appellate court is saying, 'Look, this is unfairly prejudicial,' because the sentencing judge relied on this video to a certain extent when sentencing the defendant to the maximum term of 10 and a half years under the sentence, and because of that, it violated the defendant's due process rights," Kolsrud spoke.

The sentencing judge said he loved the AI video, describing it as genuine, but the appeals court said the video played a role in sentencing.

Wales said the ruling doesn't change how her family feels about using the video, but it does mean going through sentencing again.

"The defendant is able to sit with walls of protection, layers of process and policy. That if anything should or would or could have gone wrong, it'll be called out, and he's protected for a redo. But when you die, there's no redo. Chris doesn't get a second chance at anything. It's final," Wales remarked.

As the family prepares to return to court, Wales said they plan to approach the next hearing the same way.

"I don't fault the judge for that, but I do expect and hope that he will be open to the information laid at his feet, whether it's the same, whether it's updated impact statements. But we'll come with truth and honesty like we did before, and we'll do it in the way that the law allows," Wales explained.