A.C. Appellant v. H.D. AND J.C.
SC Pennsylvania · Mar 13, 2026
- Jurisdiction
- state
- Court
- SC Pennsylvania
- Record ID
- ac-appellant-v-hd-and-jc-2026-03-13
- Observed outcome
- The court affirmed the trial court's order dismissing the custody petition, finding the appellant's arguments waived due to the use of invalid and fabricated legal citations.
- Known monetary consequence
- Not recorded
Why this matter warrants attention
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania identified that a pro se litigant's brief contained fabricated and misrepresented case law, likely generated by AI. The court did not impose a monetary sanction but ruled that the arguments supported by these invalid citations were waived for failure to cite pertinent authority, leading to the affirmance of the lower court's dismissal.
The linked source identifies the filing problem as: Brief cites a non-existent case, which the court determined does not exist and was likely generated by AI..
The source records a concrete authority-verification problem in a state proceeding and the tribunal’s documented response to it.
Failure modes and consequences
- Pro Se
- Fake Citations
- Misrepresented Authority
- Family
- Trial
- None Adjudicated
- AI attribution
- Implied
- Recorded tool
- Generative artificial intelligence (unspecified)
- Known monetary consequence
- Not recorded
- Procedural posture
- Appeal from the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, following the dismissal of a custody petition.
Damien Charlotin case archive
Publisher document archive. The recorded document is hosted in the upstream publisher archive.
Open underlying sourceA recorded source link is not a substitute for checking the underlying order, filing, opinion, or disciplinary record.
What this record does—and does not—establish
The court suspected the use of generative artificial intelligence.
Limited to the linked source and the documented citation or quotation issue and stated disposition; no unrecorded tool, motive, or broader litigation facts are inferred.
Latest evidence review: Primary Document Verified (high confidence).
Controls suggested by the public record
- Check the cited authority, reporter reference, and pinpoint against the primary source before filing.
- Correct any unsupported citation promptly and preserve the verification record.
- Treat the listed consequence as case-specific rather than as a general rule about AI use.