Desembargador Magid Nauef Láuar accidentally included an AI prompt in his vote absolving a 35-year-old man of child rape in Minas Gerais. The judgment took place on February 11, 2026, and the case is under seal to protect the victim. The National Council of Justice is seeking clarifications on the acquittal but has not mentioned any probe into AI use.
The vote by Desembargador Magid Nauef Láuar, the rapporteur in the case at the Minas Gerais Court of Justice, contained an explicit AI prompt on page 45 of the ruling. The phrase 'Now improve the exposition and foundation of this paragraph' was followed by an original text on the material atypicality of the accused's conduct and a summarized version presumably generated by AI.
The original text stated: 'Notwithstanding the defensive theses formulated regarding the insufficiency of proof of omissions by the mother and the excuse of culpability due to error of prohibition, the recognition of the material atypicality of the accused [initials omitted by the report], now first appellant, and his acquittal for lack of just cause, also warrants the dismissal of the criminal conduct attributed to the second appellant, particularly since there can be no talk of failure to fulfill the duty of guarantor when the typicality of the acts described in the initial accusatory pleading is dismissed.' The summarized version was: 'Notwithstanding the defensive theses articulated regarding the insufficiency of proof as to the alleged omission attributed to the mother, as well as the incidence of excuse of culpability based on error of prohibition, the recognition of the material atypicality of the conduct imputed to the accused [initials omitted by the report], first appellant, with the consequent declaration of his acquittal for lack of just cause, projects necessary effects on the imputation directed to the second appellant.'
The judgment, held on February 11, 2026, acquitted by majority the 35-year-old man of the crime of vulnerable rape against a 12-year-old girl and the victim's mother for omission. The case is under seal, as standard to protect minor victims.
The Minas Gerais Court of Justice provides access to AI tools such as Gemini and NotebookLM via Google Workspace, with guidelines on human supervision and data protection. CNJ Resolution No. 615 states that AI tools must not process confidential data without proper anonymization.
The CNJ requested clarifications from the desembargador on the acquittal, as Brazilian law considers rape when the victim is under 14, regardless of consent. There is no indication that AI use is being investigated. The report identified no other explicit prompts and avoided AI detectors due to risks with sealed data.
