Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions thrown out. A new search for Kristin Smart. Plus, AI and murder.

They care about how I feel. It's the staff on the app. It's the connections you make.

“Without good mental and physical help, you have nothing.”

It tells me how to cook to keep myself healthy. I look at my happening like while I'm on this 7,000 steps today. Star Today meets you where you are. Download the Star Today Wellness app now on your Avalor Android device. Terms apply, see app for details.

I'm Craig Melve. Cheers. Cheers.

I've always been a glass half-volt kind of guy.

And now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that we too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their trials, challenges, their stories, their funny, and my candy. So I hope you'll join me each week and who knows. You might just come away with your own glass half-volt.

Search glass half-volt with Craig Melve from today on YouTube. However, you get your podcasts. We got a lot to get to today. It's the start of another work day for the Dateline team.

“She thinks we're going to get the interview.”

Our producers are swapping tips and story ideas. If they find a body that would be huge. She bought a plain ticket, but she never actually bought it a plane. They would have indicted her earlier if they had more. Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly.

I'm Andrea Canning.

It's May 14th and here's what's on our docket.

Josh Mankewitz is here to discuss the latest in the Kristen Smart Case. And while most 30 years after her murder, police are still digging up backyards in Southern California. They found some signs that a body had been buried there. In Dateline Roundup, an update on the trial of the dentist's son accused of murdering a restaurant hostess.

And emotional testimony at the sentencing of Dale Warner, the Michigan man convicted of murdering his wife D, and concealing her body in a fertilizer tank. My mom's name, D Hardy, will live in our hearts in our community for an eternity. But Dale Warner's name will be gone forever.

“Plus, could an AI chatbot ever be held accountable for helping plan a murder?”

NBC News Senior Legal correspondent Laura Jarrett tells us about a groundbreaking lawsuit in Florida. If somebody is asking Chad GPT, how do you dispose of a body? Is that for research or is that for murder? But before all that, breaking news out of South Carolina. Alec Murdoch is no longer a convicted murderer.

Alec Murdoch's six-week double murder trial was labeled the trial of the century. With true crime tourists lining up outside the Colitan County Courthouse to get a seat inside. We were there, too, as secrets about this once prominent lawyer's life spilled into view. His drug addiction, financial crimes, troubled marriage. Prosecutors said all of that drove Murdoch to murder his wife and son.

In March, 2023, a jury found Murdoch guilty, and he was sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison. But if you thought that would be the last to hear from Alec Murdoch, you'd be wrong. He quickly filed an appeal arguing that he did not get a fair trial. And he pointed the finger at someone who was in the courtroom every day. Court clerk Becky Hill.

His appeal made it all the way to the South Carolina Supreme Court. In February at a high stakes hearing, his attorneys made their case for a new trial to the five Supreme Court justices. No matter how heinous, no matter how overwhelming the evidence, you're still entitled to a fair trial.

On Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court announced a game-changing decision. They overturned his conviction. Alec Murdoch will be getting a new trial. Craig Melvin, co-anchor of NBC's Today Show, and date line producer Carol Gabel, are here now to fill us in.

Craig and Carol, welcome to the show. And Craig especially, this is a nice treat. No, Andrew, you're very kind. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

And we always love having Carol, of course.

So let's dive right in guys. If you follow true crime or live in South Carolina, you know this case well. But for anyone who doesn't just give us a recap. Alec Murdoch, lawyer of South Carolina,

very prominent. For folks who may not know this, I'm from South Carolina. Live there until I was 28 years old. I knew who Alec Murdoch was, but he was a low country lawyer who had made a lot of money.

And we all did a great deal of influence in the Palmetto state. And then in June of 2021 he calls 911. The report that his wife and his younger son Paul had both been shot and killed outside. They're sprawling home. And he told investigators that he found the body is when he'd come back from visiting his mother

who at the time had Alzheimer's. But investigators, in biotech prosecutors, didn't buy it.

They use cell phone video, vehicle data.

“They use witness testimony to ultimately place Alec Murdoch at the scene.”

And so he ended up being the convicted of killing his wife and son. In March of 2023. So Murdoch filed an appeal right away. His lawyers started raising questions about what happened behind the scenes of the trial itself. Notably, the conduct of former court clerk Becky Hill.

She really kind of dropped a grenade in the middle of all of this. Right, guys? Well, she did.

She was later accused by the former Chief Justice of South Carolina,

yielding to the siren call of celebrity. Because she was the it-girl at the trial in the sense that so many people wanted to see that trial. She gave people seats, make sure they could get in. She had media from around the world who were pestering her for, you know, favors and attention.

“And, you know, I think it was a very heavy experience.”

And Craig Becky wrote a book that also really put her in the spotlight. The behind the doors of justice. That was the title of the book behind the doors of justice to Murdoch murders. It was a tell-all about the court proceedings. And if the Murdoch trial was a circus Andrea, you could make the argument that Becky, Becky, you may have been the ringmaster.

I mean, anybody who's been in the time there in the court room or outside the courthouse, I mean, you know, she would hold court. I mean, it was very much her. It was her courtroom. Yeah, how did the Becky's actions violate Murdoch's right to a fair trial? Well, you know, a lot of it centers on stray comments that Becky made that some jurors heard.

Little stray things that later those jurors said, you know, made them feel like that she wanted a certain outcome. Craig, she made a comment to the jurors as they began deliberations. Andrew, she did. And it was this particular comment, quote, "This shouldn't take us long in playing that it was obvious that, you know, like Murdoch was guilty."

So the defense argued that those remarks carried weight and they interfered with the jurors ability to deliberate independently. And based on that judge's decision, it would appear as if the high court of the parliamental state agree. And the justice is said, you know, the prosecutors even Murdoch's defense team skillfully presented their cases to the jury. But their efforts were in vain, you know, because court clerk Becky Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice there by denying Murdoch his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.

Have we heard anything from Becky? I call Becky and she didn't call me back at a hearing on this issue in 2024. Or she denied trying to influence the jury. So the big question is what happens next? A Murdoch isn't getting out of prison anytime soon.

He's serving a 40-year sentence after pleading guilty in federal court to stealing millions from clients along with a more than 20-year sentence after pleading guilty to financial crimes in state court. We should know that another reason his defense argued Murdoch didn't get a fair trial is that the prosecution was allowed to refer to those financial crimes at his murder trial. In their decision today, the Supreme Court did not include the financial crimes issue as a reason for a neutral, because they said essentially Becky Hill's behavior was enough.

“And the interesting fact as we move forward toward a possible retrial is that the financial crimes were key for the prosecution's case as the motive for the murders.”

It was a crucial piece. And I mean, everybody wants to know why. And the financial crimes seem to explain that and lay out the why. Craig, you talked to the Attorney General Allen Wilson and he said publicly that he disagreed with the court's decision and vowed to aggressively seek to retry murder as soon as possible.

No one is above the law and he said, as always, we will continue to fight for justice.

Right. And when they say we're going to do this quickly, now we're talking about court and legal ease and how far is this quickly. But Allen Wilson is running for governor and there is also an election going on for a new attorney general. How do you think that's going to figure into this? I think if you look back at that news conference that happened right after the trial and the Attorney General of South Carolina was very much front and center.

This was a victory that helped define his firm as a G. So it's a source of pride, you know, like it's and that old now all of a sudden you have the Supreme Court.

And a unanimous decision, by the way, unanimous. Yeah, five to zero.

“Yeah, you've got the high court saying, well, wait a minute, that's so fast. So, yes, I think I think that they want to retry it.”

I think they want to retry it for probably a variety of reasons. Speaking of Alec, any word from him or his team about this? This was not a surprise for Murdoch's team, you know, Dick and Jim have been fairly confident over the last few months since they're hearing at the Supreme Court that this would be the decision. By the way, they still enter it. They still maintain their clients' innocence. It's not just that the cards were stacked against them and Becky Hill had her thumb on the scales and just as they still maintain he did not do it.

And that was if you recall, they're closing arguments.

They basically said, our clients are a good guy. He's a bad guy. He stole $12 million from the least among us. He'd been doing it for three years.

It fell in this addiction. He's a bad dude, but he's not that bad. He's not a killer. Yeah. I do wonder if there is a retrial if he actually takes the stand. Yeah. Maybe not. No, I got the sense during my interviews, during the course of the trial and the four with the attorneys, I got the sense that they had their brothers. He probably would not have testified in the first trial.

And so you got to wonder if if they learn from that.

Craig, you have covered this case extensively for Dateline and got some exclusive interviews in the past.

Now you've got some new interviews for Dateline and the today show. Yes. We are going to talk exclusively to Alex Murdoch's legal team. And we're also going to talk to the attorney general as well to sort of help understand the seats thinking. So that's on the today show this morning and Dateline Friday night. It's the best combination, right? Yep. And Dateline will be Friday, 9/8 Central and NBC or on peacock the next day.

Craig and Carol, thank you so much for bringing us your perspective on all this because you two have been covering this for such a long time. We're grateful that you came on today. Thank you. I'm grateful that Carol, that's me. We all are Craig.

“You know, I'm still going to remember that.”

Coming up, investigators in Southern California dug up a backyard last week hoping to find the body of Kristen Smart. The college student murdered almost 30 years ago. Josh Mankowitz has the latest. What did you do to your family? You're lucky to make it out alive. Streaming on peacock. These men are going to come after me. Taking them out, it's my only chance. Put a bullet in your head.

From the co-creator of Ozark. Looks like a family was running drugs. Execution stop killing it, fresh the keys. I only need something that might have been mine for. The cartel killed my family. I'm going to kill them. Awesome. MIA, streaming now, only on peacock. Get the best of NBC news with a subscription. If you are ad steeper access and exclusive content and now during the

Exfinity member celebration, members can get an exclusive 50% off an annual subscription, head to Expinity.com/membership to learn more. Expinity. Imagine that. Subscription automatically renews each year at 6599 plus taxes and fees until cancelled. The price is subject to change. Visit NBCnews.com/Extinity for full offer terms and details.

“Hey guys, Willie guys, Tear. Remember to check out the Sunday Sit Down podcast.”

On this week's episode, I get together with two-time Oscar winner Sally Field to talk about a career that has been Norma Ray, Lincoln, and now her latest movie based on a big best-selling book. You can get our conversation now for free. Download your podcasts. Kristen Smart was just 19 years old in 1996. A freshman at California Polytechnic

The last time anyone saw Kristen was on Memorial Day weekend as she was leaving an off-campus

“party with a fellow student named Paul Flores. While campus police suggested Kristen may have run off”

and trip. Her friends and family knew something was wrong. We knew she wouldn't just take off. We knew she wouldn't do that. Kristen was very vocal about what she was doing or where she was going. But years passed, then decades without answers. Kristen's parents kept their daughter's disappearance and the spotlight while investigators continued pursuing the case, increasingly focused on Paul Flores as their prime suspect.

Eventually, in 2021, prosecutors charged Paul with Kristen's murder. He was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

But the case hasn't been closed because Kristen's body has never been found.

Then last week, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson made an announcement. A search was underway at the home belonging to Paul's mother Susan. We arrived just before seven to serve the search warrant and were prepared to go as long as it takes until we either find Kristen, find evidence and are satisfied that everything has been searched. My colleague and friend, Josh Mankowitz, who has been covering this case for years and spent time talking to Kristen's parents

“and investigators for his date line episode, Justice for Kristen Smart, is here to tell us more.”

Hey, Josh. Hello. Thank you for joining us. I know you know a lot about this case. And this latest search made front page news across the country.

It was all over social media. This case just continues to capture a lot of attention. Well, it does. And that's because it isn't really over. Although there was a criminal trial.

Paul Flores was absolutely convicted in that.

Her body has never been found.

And the smart family, they have continued to press law enforcement for a search that would eventually turn up

“where their daughter is because they want to bring her out.”

Yeah, gosh, understandably what a horrible time for this family, all these decades. Josh, remind us about the case a little bit. You talked about Paul Flores. What did police know in the early days of this? She had been in a party off campus.

This was right at the end of the school of years around Memorial Day weekend. And Paul Flores was there. And at the end of the party, she was either passed out or close to passed out on the lawn outside this house. Now a bunch of people leave. He offers to walk her to her dorm, which is a very short distance away.

And his story is she went to her dorm. I went to mine. That was it.

But she has never seen again.

Then he turns up after that with a black eye. And he's told a couple of different stories about how he got that black eye. The strong belief by law enforcement is that he either raped Kristen that night or attempted to. Got a black eye in the process. And that somehow she died that night, either deliberately or as he was attempting to subdue her.

There is just no way to know. So cadaver dogs detected human decomposition and Paul's dorm room back in the early days. But it wasn't enough to charge him with anything. However, if we fast forward to 2021, 25 years after Kristen disappeared, he is arrested. Paul is finally arrested.

What changed? Why so much time passing? You know, it's not like there was some DNA hit. You know, that's a telltale piece of finger printing. But it was a sheriff's department that really worked on this heart.

It was a podcast by a guy named Christopher Lambert who was not a journalist. It was not a friend of the smart family when this began and had never investigated. And I think any criminal case before. But who sort of saw this case saw the billboard about how have you seen Kristen smart on the highway and wanted to get involved. And I'm retracing missing Cal Poly student Kristen smarts last known steps.

And that podcast ended up funneling a lot of tips to the sheriff's department, which also in a wonderful development was kind of conducive to receiving information from a non-traditional source like a podcast because a lot of times long force was done interested in that. Now when Paul Flores was arrested, his dad was also arrested and accused of helping him conceal the body. They excavated below the dad's deck at his house, not the same house they were at this past weekend. And they found some signs that a body had been buried there.

Paul was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. His dad Ruben was acquitted. How did Kristen's family react to the verdicts?

But that did not end this journey for them. They still wanted Kristen's body and they haven't given up. Alright, that brings us back to the search this past week at the home of Paul's mother Susan Flores. At the time of the murder, she and Paul's dad Ruben were no longer together.

And we should say, Josh, this isn't the first time her property has come under scrutiny.

Investigators were there back in 1996 and didn't find anything. But in 2023, scientists working out of her neighbor's yard said they'd found evidence of human decomposition along her back fence.

“So Josh, what brought investigators back to Susan's home this time?”

It does feel as if, and the sheriff sort of alluded to this in his comments the other day, that someone has told them something. I would say that there was information that was derived from what we have to deem as a witness, not in the context of, I saw this happen. They contributed to it by information that they provided and it helped. That's sort of what got them over the search warrant bar to start digging in her backyard. And they're not just digging in her backyard, they're taking soil samples and testing the vapor coming off that soil to look for signs of human decomposition.

At the press conference last week, the sheriff revealed what his investigators had found in the first few days of their search.

We can't call it Christian, but we think there's evidence to support human remains there at one time. Once again, there is the scent or the finding of human decomposition, which was in Paul Flores's dorm room, which was under Paul Flores's father's deck, and which is underground at Paul Flores's mom's house. Coincidence, homicide investigators will tell you that's not a coincidence.

“Josh, we should point out that Susan has never been charged in connection with this case, and she also declined to make any comment about the search.”

Saturday, the sheriff's department announced the search was over, and that unfortunately they had not found Christian's body. But you know what, it's just absolute torture for the smart family. Yeah, I mean, I couldn't agree more, but they are absolutely committed to seeing this through. It sounds like the sheriff isn't done either. He said his detectives will evaluate the evidence they've uncovered in the search, and his team remains committed to finding Christian and bringing her home.

Josh, thank you for joining us and bringing us your unique insight into this case and the latest developments. Thank you. Up next, it's time for Date Line Roundup. We've got updates from the case of Lynette Hooker, the woman who went missing in the Bahamas. And Dale Warner, the man convicted of murdering his wife and hiding her body in a fertilizer tank, learns his fate.

“Plus, the AI chatbot secused of helping killers plan their crimes, but can the chatbots be charged with a crime, and be seen as senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett breaks it down for us.”

Let's kickstart your wellness journey with the Dark Today app. Workouts, meal plans, it's your fast track to a healthier you. And now, during the Exfinity Member Celebration, members can get an exclusive 50% off an annual subscription. And to expinity.com/membership to learn more. Exfinity, and imagine that.

Subscription automatically reduces each year at 6599 plus taxes and fees until canceled. Offerance may 20th, 2026, prices subject to change. Visit today.com/exfinity for full offer terms and details. Welcome back. Joining me for this week's Roundup is Date Line Producer Rachel White.

Rachel, thanks for being here. Thank you for having me back. Okay, so Rachel, first, we are headed to Lennoway County Circuit Court in Michigan for the final chapter in a case we've been covering from the very beginning. We're talking about the murder of grandmother and entrepreneur, D.N. Warner. The hands of her husband, 58-year-old Dale Warner.

Rachel, give us a quick recap. Yeah, so D went missing from the home she shared with her husband Dale in 2021. The couple owned several businesses together and had been married for 15 years. But by all accounts, the marriage was on the rocks. Rachel, investigators conducted extensive searches across the thousands of acres of farmland.

It was a tough situation given just how large that area is. But of course, they did not find D.N. In November 2023, Dale was arrested and charged with her murder.

Then an August of 2024 investigators made a breakthrough.

So they discovered D's body wrapped in a tarp in a fertilizer tank on Dale's property that had been welded shut. An autopsy showed she'd been beaten and strangled horrible.

“What did prosecutors say was the reason for the murder?”

They argued that it was greed and that D had been talking about divorce and selling the trucking business. And that if she did that, Dale would lose a lot of money. So he killed her.

In March, a jury found Dale Warner guilty of second degree murder in tampering with evidence.

Late last week, Dale appeared in court for his sentencing. Um, who was there, Rachel? So several of D's family members spoke and they did not hold back. D's daughter, Raquel Bach, made it a point to refer to D using her maiden name, which was Hardy. My mom's name, D Hardy, will live in our hearts in our community for an attorney.

But Dale Warner's name will be gone forever. And D's sister-in-law Shelley told Dale the family was going to keep D's love of life and laughter alive in their hearts.

And then she did something really dramatic.

D knew we would fight to the end and we won and now I'm going to remove my bracelet that I won since D was missing because we got justice. Wow, that is powerful. D's brother Greg Hardy also gave a statement and at one point the judge had to caution him to tone it down. The barbaric act of covering up your crime by welding my sister in a cold steel tomb is beyond human. You were a spinalist piece of human debris.

Mr. Hardy asked you to find your comments to address it or I'm sorry. Did Dale speak in front of the court at all? No, so Dale's defense attorney said that he asked her to say he loved his wife and that he maintained his innocence and that he did not kill her.

“Okay, so what did the judge decide for Dale's punishment?”

The judge sends him to 31 to 70 years noting the fact that Dale covered up the body for so long and that that was truly heinous. All right, leaving Michigan and heading to Kentucky, Pikeville, Kentucky. It's an update on the case of Amber Spradlin, the woman who was found stabbed to death in 2023 at a dentist's house. Rachel remind us about the case. Yes, so Amber Spradlin was a 38 year old restaurant hostess and the house where she died belonged to a dentist named Dr. Michael McKinney.

There were no arrests until 2024 when the dentist's son Michael, who everyone calls MK was charged with her murder and multiple counts of tampering with evidence. He's pleaded not guilty. MK's dad, the dentist, Dr. Michael McKinney and a family friend Josh Mullins were also charged with tampering with evidence and they've pleaded not guilty as well. The three men Rachel were set to go to trial this week, but there was a pre trial hearing on Monday that changed everything, right? Yeah, so prosecutors argued that the trial should be delayed.

They said that they have crime lab evidence that they need more time to test.

“What has been taking so long to get the evidence tested?”

So there's a couple of reasons. Basically, the biggest issue is there's a backlog at the state crime lab and a large amount of the evidence in this case is forensic evidence that needs to be tested.

So on Monday, a forensic scientist with the lab testified at the hearing and said that the preferred limit for testing is 10 items. And in this case, 145 items were submitted. That's a lot. What did the judge decide? So the trial has been delayed and it's a pretty significant delay. It's now supposed to start January 11th, 2027. Okay, lots of updates there. For our last story, Rachel, we have got a quick update on a case I was covering recently in Marsh Harbor, Bahamas, and we're talking about the disappearance of Lynette Hooker, a Michigan woman who was sailing around the world with her husband, Brian on their sailboat.

"Brient told authorities that Lynette fell off their dinghy after a night out and was swept away. The royal Bahamas police launched a rescue operation, but of course they did not find Lynette." Lynette's daughter Carly told me she was skeptical of Brian's story. "Part of me feel like he's going to get away with this and walk away a free man and I really hope that doesn't happen." Yeah, so the Bahamian police had questions too. They interviewed Brian for five days before releasing him. He of course has denied any wrongdoing and said he was devastated at the loss of his wife.

Brian left the Bahamas shortly after he was released to come back to the states. What is the latest in the case now? So the Coast Guard in Fort Pierce in Florida told NBC that they are now in possession of the hookers boat called the Solme. As the Coast Guard said anything Rachel about what they're hoping to find with the boat or why they took the boat? No, so a Coast Guard official has said that the agency can't comment so we really don't have any additional information yet. Yeah, we know this is definitely an ongoing investigation. Thanks for the update on this story as well Rachel will definitely be watching this one too.

For our final story we wanted to tell you about a potentially groundbreaking lawsuit that was just filed in a Florida federal courthouse. As AI is becoming increasingly part of our lives and we turn to it for information and advice, this lawsuit asks whether an AI chatbot can be held responsible for murder. In April 2025, 45-year-old father of two T.R. Chaba was gunned down during a mass shooting on the campus of Florida State University. His alleged killer, a student by the name of Phoenix Ickner, was taken into custody and is expected to stand trial later this year.

On Sunday, T.R.'s family filed a wrongful def lawsuit, naming not just Ickner as a defendant, but also open AI. The company that owns chat G.P.T. alleging that one of its chat bots gave instructions to Ickner about how to carry out the shooting. Here's the family's lawyer on the today's show this week. In this case, chat G.P.T. became a co-conspirator and a five-collaborator with a shooter. This is not the first time we've heard allegations that an AI chatbot may have played a role in a murder.

So we're asking NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett to come on the podcast to help us understand more about AI in the courtroom. Welcome back to the show, Laura.

Hey, I'm always great to be with you.

Yeah, so Laura, you and another NBC reporter actually broke the news of this wrongful death lawsuit. And it got a lot of attention, especially in the legal world.

“I think part of what people are so sort of blown away by in this is the level of engagement that a chatbot.”

Okay, so there's no human being behind in this bot is purely AI driven. And yet the level of engagement is kind of mind-blowing. Phoenix Ickner is 20 years old and he sort of goes down the rabbit hole on chat G.P.T. asking about weapons, asking about other school shootings. And on the day of the shooting, just hours before prosecutors say he killed two people and injured

several others, he's asking about loading the weapon, uploaded images of the weapon. So chat G.P. knows what he's dealing with.

He's asking about how to load it.

He's asking about the busiest time at the student union at FSU. He's asking about how many people have to die for the media to pay attention to it. Okay, and so it's all of those things together. Is what the attorneys for the family is saying is the wrong here. And so their point is, at some point, a human being should have been flagged.

Okay, not saying that they should have called the police. That's not the allegation in the lawsuit. The allegation in the lawsuit is that a human being should have had an alarm bell go off because if he was talking to another person on the side of that screen, a not a bot, a human being, what have said, you need help?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. What about open AI?

“What are they saying about this wrongful death lawsuit?”

So when we reached out to open AI about this, they said this is a terrible tragedy. But we are not responsible for this and that our product has been cooperating with authorities and that all it did was provide factual responses just the way that Google would. Laura, this reminds me of another case we covered recently involving a different Florida University. Two students were stabbed to death and investigators say they're alleged

killer asked chat, GPT, to research body disposal and other questions related to these murders. Let's take a listen to the sheriff. He searches for, can a knife penetrate a skull? Can a neighbor hear a gunshot? Can you bury a body in a trash bag and throw it in a dumpster?

NBC News reached out to open AI. They told us they're doing whatever they can to support law enforcement. But what can be done with regulations, guardrails, you know, in place maybe to prevent future violent crimes where chat GPT or other sources of AI are being brought into this?

“I think it's a really interesting sort of brave new world question, right?”

If somebody is asking chat GPT, how do you dispose of a body? Is that for research or is that for murder? And at what point do you alert law enforcement, right? And is it like minority port where it's like, okay, we're going to predict that they're going to do something really bad?

Yes. So we're going to tell law enforcement like go swarm the house right now. Like, is that like probable cause to get a search warrant? Like, I think there's so many interesting forth amendment questions that are raised by this, too. Laura back to the Florida mass shooting.

Last month, Florida Attorney General announced he was investigating Open AI's role in that. Let's take a listen.

If that bot were a person, they would be charged with a principle in first to be murder.

We cannot have AI bots that are advising people on how to kill others. That is wrong, and that is dangerous.

We're talking about a computer.

“Can you hold a computer or the company that makes the computer responsible for crimes?”

That's going to be out for a jury to decide. I think at some point, that's going to get tested in the not too distant future.

The question is always in any murder cases, you know, is was it foreseeable, right?

What was the intent? They're going to be able to say, of course, chat CBT didn't intend murder, but maybe there's some sort of lower, you know, recklessness or sort of negligent homicide charge that could be brought. I think we're going to see that within a year. Laura, thank you so much for bringing us your amazing legal mind into this debate and this

very interesting topic. We appreciate you coming on the show.

Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you.

“And if you want to hear more from Laura, check out her new limited podcast which drops every Saturday”

this month. It's called Here's the Scoop Supreme Court Edition. She's talking illegal experts and lawyers about the big cases in front of the Supreme Court right now and what it all means. And it's very fascinating. That's it for this episode of "Date Line True Crime Weekly" to get add-free listening for all our podcasts, subscribe to "Date Line Premium."

And coming up this Friday on "Date Line," we just talked about the latest twist

“in the Alec Mertic case today. But of course, there's a lot more to this story.”

After the South Carolina Supreme Court's big decision, Craig Melvin takes us back inside the investigation and brings us new interviews with those who have had a front-rocee to this case from the very beginning. Watch the latest this Friday at 9/8 central on NBC, or "Stream It" starting Saturday on Peacock. Thanks for listening.

"Date Line True Crime Weekly" is produced by Carson Cummins, Caroline Casey and Keanu Reeve. Our associate producers are "Ellerie Gladstone" growth and "Area Young." Our senior producer is Liz Brown, Kuroloff. Veronica Mazeka is our digital producer, Rick Quan is our sound designer, original music by Jesse McGinty, Paul Ryan is executive producer, and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of "Date Line."

And that's everything for most, see you later. I'm Craig Melvin Cheers Cheers! Cheers!

I've always been a glass half-volt kind of guy, and now I'm talking to some people who look at the world

that way too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their trials, challenges, their stories, their funny, and my candy. So I hope you'll join me each week and who knows! You might just come away with your own glass half-volt. Search Glass Half-volt with Craig Melvin from today on YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.