Tiny Difference in Username Sent Innocent Man to Prison

A barely noticeable discrepancy in a screen name led to a Canadian man serving 18 months in prison for a crime he didn't commit, reports the CBC. Nova Scotia's Court of Appeal has thrown out the child exploitation conviction of 30-year-old Brandon Klayme after finding investigators targeted the wrong Kik account. The problem: US and Canadian authorities treated "fus_ro_dah" as the source of explicit messages sent in 2018 to a 12-year-old girl in Wisconsin, when the actual username was "fus__ro_dah." The difference being that the second has an extra underscore between "fus" and "ro."

"He should never have been charged, let alone convicted," the court wrote, per the New York Times. Prosecutors agreed. Klayme, who said he stopped using Kik in 2012, only spotted the discrepancy as he and appellate lawyer Zeb Brown re-examined trial evidence. Halifax police, who acted on a lead from Dane County, Wisconsin, say they will review their handling of the case. It's unclear whether authorities are pursuing the real account holder. Klayme, meanwhile, is considering a civil lawsuit. Gizmodo has some questions about all this, including, "what in the name of all that is good and holy happened during the trial?" and "how do you convict a man despite having literally no evidence?"