No. I think the core issue is that they used her 2019 booking photo (a mugshot) from a public intoxication arrest. I am not sure whether a photo like that is reliable :)

In the end, the detective compared the booking photo with the camera footage and concluded they were the same person, then presented that to the judge.

I also wonder what her “probation” was for. Maybe she once wrote a bad check and got into trouble, which might have made the detective more inclined to believe it was her.

Anyway, this does not appear to be an AI issue at all.

But it is nice scary story to remind us not to be lazy and trust it unconditionally.

Yes. Appealing to authority ("The AI said it was her!") is absolutely a problem.

I'm not dismissing the rest of what you are saying, but I don't think you should dismiss appeals to authority being a factor, either.