Fugees’ Pras wants retrial, claiming lawyer used AI to write “failed” closing argument
Pras Michel of the Fugees is asking for a new trial in his money laundering case after claiming that his lawyer created a “failed” closing argument with generative AI.
In April this year, Michel was convicted for his involvement in a billion-dollar Malaysian money laundering scheme.
As reported by Reuters, however, a brief filed on Michel’s behalf has requested a retrial on the grounds that the musician’s previous attorney David Kenney reportedly used the AI program EyeLevel.AI to create the closing statement.
According to the brief, filed by Michel’s new legal representation team at ArentFox Schiff: “Kenner’s closing argument made frivolous arguments, misapprehended the required elements, conflated the schemes and ignored critical weaknesses in the government’s case.”
It continued: “The AI program failed Kenner, and Kenner failed Michel. The closing argument was deficient, unhelpful and a missed opportunity that prejudiced the defense.”
Kenner has not responded to the brief. NME has contacted his office for a response.
Furthermore, the brief alleges that Kenner and his legal partner Alon Israely have a financial stake in CaseFile Connect, a “technology partner” to EyeLevel.AI, saying that Kenner intended to use Michel’s case to promote the company. A statement from EyeLevel.AI states that Kenner and Israely do not have a financial stake in the company.
“EyeLevel’s AI for legal is a powerful tool for human lawyers to make human decisions, but do so faster and with far greater information at their fingertips,” wrote the company in a response to the brief. “EyeLevel is able to ingest and understand complex legal transcripts based solely on the facts of the case as presented in court.”
In April, a jury found Michel guilty of 10 federal counts, including campaign finance violations, money laundering, illegal lobbying, witness tampering and lying to banks. The rapper and producer faces up to 20 years in prison.
The case involved fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (aka Jho Low). Jho had been accused of masterminding the theft of USD$4.5billion (£3.7billion) from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund known as 1 Malaysia Development Berhad. Low has denied any wrongdoing.
It was alleged that Michel facilitated the transfer of approximately $21.6million (£17.7million) into the US for Low, “for the purpose of funnelling significant sums of money into the United States presidential election.”
Michel was accused of attempting to influence two US presidential administrations – by funnelling $865,000 (£711,000) through “straw donor” into Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, and lobbying for Donald Trump to send Chinese dissident Guo Wengui back to China.
Michel is said to have rejected a deal that would have allowed him to plead guilty to an obstruction of justice charge and lesser violation of failing to register as a foreign agent. Under those terms, he would have served 16 months in prison. The government would also have returned some of the roughly $40million (£32.9million) that was seized from Michel’s accounts, which it believed rightly belonged to Malaysia. He has yet to be sentenced.
In January 2022, the Fugees announced that a 25th anniversary tour of their debut album ‘The Score’ had been called off.
The group said at the time of the cancellation that the COVID pandemic had “made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fand and ourselves healthy and safe”, though it was later reported that the dates were thrown into jeopardy by Michel’s legal issues.
The US Department of Justice later confirmed that Michel’s passport had been handed over as a result of the case.
Last month, the band reunited on stage during a performance by Ms. Lauryn Hill at New York City’s Global Citizens Festival, playing ‘Ready or Not’, ‘Fu-Gee-La’, ‘How Many Mics’ and ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’.
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Max Pilley
NME
