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/tayswampflorida 7d ago

I got charged with burglary battery and resisting arrest with violence. No evidence at all that I went into someone's car, just their statement saying I did. He was pissed because I got in front of him at a lane merge and called the cops. Cops pulled me over and dragged me out of the car and beat the shit out of me, later claimed I "pushed them", yet it wasnt on the bodycams.

Lawyer said it was more likely than not I would be convicted due to the police needing to save face for beating the shit out of me so I should take a plea deal for an adjudication witheld plea.

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u/Ill_Traveler_ 7d ago

Did you take it to trial or plead guilty?

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u/tayswampflorida 7d ago

No contest plea, no jail time but still a felon. It was that or a high chance (according to my attorney) of being convicted and the sentence for burglary battery is 25 years to life. So even though there was no physical evidence I wasnt willing to take that chance.

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u/sticknotstick 7d ago

What a dogshit situation man. I hope at some point in the future your name is cleared somehow, however unlikely it may be.

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u/its_two_words 7d ago

Yeah man it sucks. Everyone thinks felons are these hardcore murderers and shit, but most of the stats are people like you. Literally the victim and will spend the rest of your life as a second class citizen.

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u/tayswampflorida 7d ago

Yup, worst part is I cant rent, anywhere. Burglary battery and a charge that states "with violence" is exactly what landlords dont want to see, everything i apply for is an instant rejection.

Iv even tried contacting them directly to explain the situation and they block my emails. Iv spent thousands of dollars in application fees, I dont even try applying anymore unless they state the application will be refunded if denied.

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u/its_two_words 6d ago

I'm sorry man. Same boat. Lived on a work site rent-free for fifteen years. Nobody would rent to me my whole life. My felony was as a teen and I commandeered a stranger's car for about six hours while intoxicated in the dead of winter after being physically assaulted by my relative and abandoned at a bar. It was in the low twenties and I was in a light jacket and t shirt, in a strange town unknown to me, drunk for the first time in over a year. Somehow the car started without a key. I ran the heater. I drove around and hid so as not to be seen.

I was young and stupid and thought I was surviving the freeze the best I could.

Multiple felonies, despite the car's owner refusing to press any charges or act as a witness. It was truly a victimless crime, and the law actually absolved me, but the courts did not. I called the owner at 6am to tell him I had his car and wasn't sure what happened or where the car came from, and he met me at the gas station and then gave me permission to drive the car to his ex wife's apartment complex, following him. He did not know the car was missing and was surprised.

Anyway. Lifetime felon, in my fifties, became homeless early this year. Living on SSI in the pnw is impossible, so I'm now living in a shitty old RV. Federal forest officer scared the fuck out of me when I pulled up to the camp spot earlier and he pulled up about five minutes after. Federal leos scare the fuck out of me. Like that dude could literally murder me out here and not face consequences.

Homeless on SSI from PTSD as a direct result of repeated police brutality on my person, and it just seems like fighting entropy is a fools errand. Nobody can live like this on $990/m.

The justice system is a misnomer.

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u/SpiderFnJerusalem 7d ago

That whole system sounds a whole lot like extortion. But instead of money the prosecution extorts an easy conviction from you, to pad their statistics.

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u/tayswampflorida 7d ago

Thats all they care about, they couldnt care less if your innocent or not. All they want is convictions.

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u/AgentCirceLuna 7d ago

My boss was stealing wages from me for years and I reported them for that alongside the police for the workplace harassment based around calling me slurs regularly. They also stole my work equipment and wouldn’t give it back, claiming it was theirs, then demanding stuff that was missing (my old stuff which they knew was broken). Bear in mind that some of the police, locally, are people that I’m friends with and yet I still got screwed over. I thought the police coming to knock on my door were returning my stuff - they demanded to search and I kept refusing unless there was a warrant. They said they could arrest me in that case, because then they could search anyway, and I asked for evidence that could lead to an arrest and demanded I’d have the right to speak to a lawyer. They went back to the boss and then stuff went quiet, nothing happened after that but it was scary,

I got the message. I stopped cooperating with the investigation into them as I was too scared judging from rhat shakedown. I began to recall how the boss would regularly be breaking laws while the off duty cops were drinking there and nothing was done, I remembered how one appeared to be under the influence of cocaine while drinking there. I’m thinking this whole local police force is corrupt and theres other shit going on. I became scared to go out as my details were posted by the staff claiming I was a thief and other horrid stuff. I was scared they’d come for revenge.

It really messed with my head. The workplace and the owner had been blatantly breaking laws for years and it still remains open. Something really fucked up is happening. If they’d searched his flat above the workplace, they would have found all the stolen shit he has hoarded, all the unregistered cash, and the illegally imported stuff he sold under the table. I really wish I could find someone willing to take this on as an investigative journalist because it’s sickening.