Defendant Claimed Video of Abuse Was a “Deepfake”; Victim Was Asleep and Could Not Attest to Abuse
After an alleged “deepfake” video of a sexual assault was admitted over objection, the Defendant appealed his conviction. The Supreme Court of Iowa wrote: “In this sexual abuse case, we are asked to decide whether the district court erred in admitting a video. The video graphically shows the defendant abusing the victim. However, there was no chain-of-custody evidence connecting the video to the defendant. The victim was asleep at the time and could not personally attest to the abuse shown in the video. And the defendant claimed ‘deepfake.’” State of Iowa v. Amyda, __ N.W.2d __, 2026 WL 3030750 (Sup. Ct. Iowa Oct. 9, 2026).
