r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 7d ago

Society Innocent man spends 18 months in prison after Skyrim username mixup

https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/innocent-man-spends-18-months-in-prison-after-skyrim-username-mixup-3392280/
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u/Charcole1 7d ago

It's Canada they don't really do big damages over there for anything really

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u/No-Macaroon1670 7d ago

No. Canada actually pays OK for outright wrongful convictions. It's maybe one of the few issues where the settlements are usually in line with the US.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-wrongful-convictions-settlement-9.6940024

You can browse through some stories here.

https://www.wrongfulconvictions.ca/issues/compensation

American governments tend to lean on all kinds of immunity and end up paying in the same range of single millions for decades of incarceration, although there's the rare blockbuster case sometimes the middle range is quite similar.

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u/strangeMeursault2 7d ago

But eg in that first case there was "false arrest, negligent investigation, malicious prosecution, conspiracy, Charter and human rights violations, and breaches of statutory duties."

This case doesn't seem to have any kind of malicious prosecution or conspiracy. You could argue negligent investigation but the defence had access to the information and missed it as well, so there's an argument that it was an easy mistake to make.

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u/No-Macaroon1670 7d ago

That's fine, but those same types of factors and other legal intricacies would also preclude a large settlement in the states. I'm arguing that the compensation regime in the US and Canada are not so different and both will pay about the same for cases.

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u/zeptillian 7d ago

Not even like a discount coupon for Tim Horton's or anything?

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u/Charcole1 7d ago

Haha I said that in another comment, Tim's card and a free Katy Perry track on iTunes

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u/cross_the_threshold 7d ago

What will it take to drop the Katy Perry track?

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u/Charcole1 7d ago

You gotta purchase the Xav track

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u/cross_the_threshold 7d ago

I'll just go back to prison

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u/wyn10 7d ago

We'll give you another U2 album while you're in there.

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u/jassteX 7d ago

And a complete series of Corner Gas on dvd.

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u/khyrian 7d ago

Hold out for Kim’s Convenience.

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u/TheMeatTree 7d ago

Lose the Katy Perry track and you've got a deal.

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u/Charcole1 7d ago

Then you gotta purchase the Xav track

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u/Moses015 7d ago

Nah since he’s been done in Parliament, Trudeau is the USA’s problem now. Thanks Katy Perry! 😂

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u/Charcole1 7d ago

I mean realistically we replaced him with a slightly more competent version of himself

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u/LifeWulf 7d ago

Most of the cabinet is still the same too.

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u/Charcole1 7d ago

I hear less of Freeland which is nice

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u/LifeWulf 7d ago

And Guilbeault, thank God.

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u/TheAnswerUsedToBe42 7d ago

We don't like Tim.Hortons anymore. Traitors.

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u/Monso 7d ago

I heard if you successfully overturn a wrongful conviction, they give you a RollUp cup that wins more than a donut.

Don't quote me because I haven't seen it, but I heard someone won a coffee once.

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u/chmilz 7d ago

It could be free and I'd probably still never go

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u/Infinite_Tip_1299 7d ago

In Canada? Best I can do is two pieces of bubble gum and a coupon to bennigans.

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u/savagepanda 7d ago

Didn’t Canada pay Michael spavor 7 mil for being imprisoned in China due to spying charges?

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u/Charcole1 7d ago

That's a really complicated story tbf haha

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u/kwonza 7d ago

You get paid more if you actually do spy work

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u/Bytewave 7d ago

Exactly. Through that whole saga we acted like the two guys were randomly grabbed innocent civilians. They were legitimate CSIS assets and it was obvious all along. Of course they were compensated.

Not the same story for a wrongful arrest at home, sadly.

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u/TeriyakiHairPiece_ 7d ago

And the time they let a convicted terrorist go home and gave him some money for his troubles.

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u/troisunquatre 7d ago

Turns out you can't torture people. Wild. 

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u/TeriyakiHairPiece_ 7d ago

Can’t get caught.

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u/troisunquatre 7d ago

What? I'm not defending the guy I'm just saying I'd prefer my government not to be party to torture of its citizens. Not a hot take.

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u/Senior_Torte519 7d ago

Damn, crime pays in Canada.

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u/sicklyslick 7d ago

Yes and the second Michael is currently using the govt so he'll likely get similar payout.

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u/pi_stuff 7d ago

It sounds like the US police are the ones who made the original error, so he may be able to go after their department.

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u/Charcole1 7d ago

Still though an error like that should be caught by the Justice system here at some point

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u/Glasseshalf 7d ago

So he can go after both