Judge Daniel Fenzel dismissed the case against Anthony Quidera, who was released as a result, according to court proceedings. Fenzel pointed to the final paragraph of the probable cause statement, which stated: "This report was generated with assistance from Truleo AI."

"The court is unable to meaningfully weigh whether the facts and allegations made in the narrative were authored whether in whole or in part by a generative AI," Fenzel said from the bench. "The court is unable to determine probable cause at this time."

The underlying allegations were serious. A trooper clocked Quidera driving 30 mph over the speed limit and found several open alcohol containers in his car, according to the report. The trooper also noted that Quidera smelled of alcohol.

Court records show Quidera was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday after his release but did not appear. He still faces charges of DUI, speeding and possession of an open container in a vehicle.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety has been using Truleo since 2024, according to reporting by Arizona's Family Investigates. The department is among a growing number of agencies across the Valley adopting AI tools, raising questions about transparency, accountability and the evidentiary weight of machine-assisted police work.

Sean Harrington, director of the AI and Legal Technology Lab at Arizona State University's law school, said the ruling did not surprise him given the broader skepticism surrounding AI.

"It didn't really seem to hold water to me," Harrington said of the dismissal. "There's nothing in the rules that says an officer can't use AI when they're drafting something like a probable cause statement. They're still responsible for all the facts they put in there."

Harrington said Arizona's approach has generally favored evaluating the reliability of facts over imposing blanket bans on the technology.

"Unfortunately, we're kind of in the awkward teenage phase of AI implementation," he said.

The dismissal is the latest in a string of AI-related complications in Arizona courts. In April, an attorney was disciplined for filing motions that included AI-generated fake case citations. In September, an appeals court threw out a sentence after finding that a judge had improperly relied on an AI-generated video portraying a victim.

For local residents, the case highlights a widening gap between fast-moving adoption of AI by police agencies and the courts' ability to verify what those systems produce. Defense attorneys are likely to seize on disclosures like the one in Quidera's report, while prosecutors and law enforcement leaders will need to show that officers — not algorithms — remain the authors of the facts they swear to.

Harrington said he expects more disputes of this kind as agencies refine their policies.

"The guidance in general from Arizona has been not to have that kind of blanket ban and to instead actually evaluate the reliability of the facts," he said.