DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz ordered prosecutors to provide more information on an artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition software program that was used to identify a shooting defendant on July 1.
Marquis Foster, 43, is charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault while armed, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence or dangerous crime for his alleged involvement in a non-fatal shooting that wounded one individual on June 8, on the 2500 block of Georgia Avenue, NW. The individual sustained gunshot wounds to his chest, arm, and hip.
Foster was identified using surveillance footage of a suspect taken from nearby the crime scene. Police then reportedly used a facial recognition program, Clearview AI, to scan over 30 billion publicly available facial images for comparison.
The image of the potential suspect that was identified by the software program was then imported into a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) mugshot’s database, where police identified Foster from an existing image. The victim identified Foster based on a photo line up that pictured eight other individuals. He said he did not recognize any of the other photographs.
During the hearing, Foster’s lawyer, Elizabeth Weller, said “I’ve never heard of this before,” and requested more information about the process.
The prosecution said they are trying to get more information from the police.
Judge Kravitz told the prosecution that Weller is entitled to information about the program and he expects them to provide it.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on July 22.
