WESTMORELAND COUNTY JUDGE REJECTS REQUEST FOR MAN TO REPRESENT HIMSELF WITH AID OF AI LAWYER

A Westmoreland County judge has rejected a request from a man charged with murder to represent himself at trial with the aid of an artificial intelligence lawyer.  The Trib reports that 42-year-old Larry Nix II is charged with killing 31-year-old James Hayes in December of 2022.  His body was found in a parking lot behind the Kensington Arms Apartments with a gunshot wound to the head.  Nix wanted to move forward with the case and was not happy with the pace it was going at, so he wanted to fire his court-appointed lawyer and move forward with an AI option.  Judge Meghan Billik-Defazio rejected the AI request, but did ask Nix to reconsider his request to represent himself.  That request will be revisited at a hearing next month.