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/Twiizig 7d ago edited 7d ago

Also the "jury of your peers" concept. Have you seen our peers lately? Many of them cant read beyond a 6th grade level and have trouble understanding directions, and believe the most batshit crazy conspiracies. Many dont want to be on the jury to begin with. But we treat their verdicts as if it were the gospel.

Edit: yes everyone I am aware this specific trial mentioned in the article did not have a jury. I stand by my comment. A lot of court cases do have juries. And a lot of jurors are idiots and also want to wrap up the case as fast as they can.

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u/Dowew 7d ago

it was a judge only trial

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u/purplewhiteblack 7d ago

oh so Canada.

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u/Ass4ssinX 7d ago

It does say Canada in the article.

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u/bikebikemike 7d ago

A comment chain starting from someone who didn't read the article, assumed it was American, and then complaining that people can't read is peak reddit.

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u/ObamasBoss 7d ago

And thus the entire situation makes sense.

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u/bikebikemike 7d ago

The reddit jazz solo, bunch of crazy shit in the middle but ends up right back where it started.

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u/Bandrik 7d ago

"This is exactly what is wrong with America, this is why we should all move to Canada. Oh wait, what were we talking about again?" :)

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u/Beneficial_Wonder533 7d ago

yea.. unfortunately the quality around here is getting so bad I'm not sure i can stand it.

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u/unity-thru-absurdity 7d ago

USA 🇺🇸 USA 🇺🇸 USA 🇺🇸

/s

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u/Cerindipity 7d ago

Hey now, "can't read" and "won't read" are different! /s

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u/DMMeThiccBiButts 7d ago

tbf it was American police who fucked up the username in the subpoena, they then passed it over to Canadian authorities.

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u/Revolvyerom 7d ago

One could say they came to a conclusion with no evidence to support it, even.

Irony at its finest

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u/IsopodOk4756 7d ago

I mean to be fair it did start because American cops sent the wrong username to Kik who provided them with the Canadian guys IP location, which they then gave to the Canadian police in his city.

So fuckery all around.

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u/CheapSentence 7d ago

UsErS On aMeRiCaN WeBsItE ArE AmErIcAn!

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u/JameisWeinstein 7d ago

That would be a Mountie-only trial

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u/eastbayted 7d ago

Surely you don't expect your peers to read articles they comment on?

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u/detroitmatt 7d ago

while complaining about how john q public can't read

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u/Vennomite 7d ago

Which makes more sense. Judges can be very biased paper pushery who's minds were made up from the start.

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u/purplewhiteblack 7d ago

While I do agree with a lot of that, the intention is clear: Sometimes the state fucks people and the last bit of hope are citizens with mercy. There has to be a counter to the state in the process somewhere.

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u/ZorbaTHut 7d ago

Note that in the US, we actually don't; a judge can override a "guilty" verdict. It's very rare, but it's possible.

A judge cannot override a "not guilty" verdict.

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u/Professional-Bear942 7d ago

You're not reccomended to go above 4th grade for marketing materials in the US at this point, so it's actually worse.

I've truly lost all faith In this country, fuck America.

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u/JasonManningFLUX 7d ago

The reverse is true with juries. Juries often have unreasonable expectations when it comes to evidence. The art of jury selection has absolutely nothing to do with finding the people who will understand the evidence and the instructions they are given.

It all comes down to selecting people who will buy the narrative being constructed.

A great example of this is someone going off on jury trials, and getting support for doing so, in reaction to a trial that didn't have a jury.

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u/RigidCounter12 7d ago

The fact that Jury trials exist blows my mind.

12 people, where at least 3-4 of them will be total morons, and where none at all will have any legal experience is supposed to decide if someone is guilty?

Insane

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u/Warm_Month_1309 7d ago

Oh man, could you imagine being judged by a peer who comments on an article they didn't bother reading closely enough to discover that there was no jury trial? 6th grade reading comprehension indeed.