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# Deepfakes could break overworked and underfunded public defenders
- URL: https://www.thelarsdaniel.com/deepfakes-could-break-overworked-and-underfunded-public-defenders/
- Published: 2026-04-06T21:15:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-11T13:45:00.000Z
- Description: Deepfakes are already reaching U.S. courtrooms. And in the deepfake era, proving a piece of digital evidence is real often requires specialized forensic experts that public defenders rarely have the funding to bring in. That gap may become the gap between a fair trial and a wrongful conviction.
- Author: Lars Daniel
- Tags: Video, AI Evidence, #source-youtube

Deepfakes are already reaching U.S. courtrooms. And in the deepfake era, proving a piece of digital evidence is real often requires specialized forensic experts that public defenders rarely have the funding to bring in. That gap may become the gap between a fair trial and a wrongful conviction.

I'm Lars Daniel, a digital forensics expert and expert witness. I've spent my career inside this system, and in this video I break down why synthetic media is about to create a two-tiered evidence system in American courtrooms, how the asymmetry between enterprise-grade evidence and consumer-device evidence is growing, and why overworked and

underfunded public defenders may be the ones who cannot close the gap.

This video is adapted from my latest Forbes column. The written version with all inline citations is linked below.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

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[Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEqPSFJIgt8&ref=thelarsdaniel.com)