Chris' appeal is done.

[Maxentius]

I don't really know Stofsk save through reading his posts, but I've followed his predicament and this is, needless to say, an outstanding and deserved development.

[Hawkwings]

Great news! You really don't hear enough of these things happening, so it's absolutely fantastic when it does.

[Patrick Degan]

He has been sorely missed in these precincts. I look forward to the return of Stofsk.

[Davis 51]

Thank god. I can't say I know Chris that well, just having read his posts. I can say however, that I am glad this happened, and that it took way too fucking long.

[Questor]

This is truely great news. I'd like to echo Mike's comment on the system working for once.

And I've got to say that that prosecutor showed a lot of guts. I don't know how it works in Austrailia, but here it would be almost impossible for a prosecutor to do that, as it would get them labeled soft-on-crime.

[PeZook]

Kudos to prosecutor for being an honest man...but it's too fucking bad he couldn't have displayed that attitude...a bit fucking earlier.

[Solauren]

Excellent news. Excellent.

Chris, we you read this; Welcome back, you crazy shades wearing jedi (reference to his old avatar).

Now sue the ass off everyone you can. You might not get your 5 years back, but at least you could get paid for it.

[Thanas]

Kudos to prosecutor for being an honest man...but it's too fucking bad he couldn't have displayed that attitude...a bit fucking earlier.

It might not have been the same man. Teams routinely switch when it comes to appeals.

[RedImperator]

Hmmm, gift ideas - Chris loves his games. The only thing stopping me from getting him a copy of Mass Effect, which he's desperate to play, is that it's MA15+ and so as a prisoner they'd never allow it. He was only allowed G and PG games in prison (he had a PC in there).

Has he been able to see any BSG? If not, he might like the boxed sets of all the seasons.

[Ubiquitous]

He deserves millions of pounds in compensation if he is found not guilty. Even so, one cannot properly compensate for stealing a person's freedom for a number of years.

[Phantasee]

I just want to know this: Did the defense or the judge say, "Concession Accepted"?

BSG Box set would be a great gift, with luck he'll be out and caught up before the finale.

[weemadando]

I think that if he gets out, the long-planned Aussie meet needs to happen in part as celebration for this.

I also think that a massive present haul for him mightn't be a bad thing (once it's confirmed what his release date is). Set up a big Amazon wishlist or similar?

[SCRawl]

My first thought -- after the realization that this long-sustained tragedy was coming to an end -- was whether or not your system supports compensation awards for wrongful imprisonment (or malicious prosecution, or whatever the case is). Losing years from one's life, and having the label of murderer attached can't be properly compensated, but perhaps the immediate needs of life can be taken care of.

I look forward to hearing more good news. It's been a while in coming.

[Coyote]

Excellent. A reason to dissipate some cynicism, to be sure.

[Chris OFarrell]

I think if you really want to help, in celebration, find some spare cash and donate it to Chris's paypal account. I haven't been able to do much at all for him, being broke and, to my shame, forgetting about him on and off.

But we can at least try to make sure if he gets out soon -I am NOT jinxing this- that they have SOME cash. If he is acquitted I think often the court costs have to be repaid, but I'm not sure about this, Vymp would know that. Regardless however, it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

[Feil]

This is good news. Best of luck getting the expected verdict.

EDIT: since 2004? Was he in prison for two-three years before the verdict was even tendered?

[White Haven]

That is easily the best thing I've heard in quite some time, fantastic news. I, however, echo the calls for some heavy legal retaliatory action against the corrupt, dishonest little pissants who pushed his case through to a guilty verdict in the first place.

[Rogue 9]

This is good news. Best of luck getting the expected verdict.

EDIT: since 2004? Was he in prison for two-three years before the verdict was even tendered?

They went a year before arresting him, as I recall.

Here's hoping the panel will simply release him; a retrial at this stage would be a massive waste, not to mention another gross miscarriage of justice on top of the one he's already been on the receiving end of.

[Vympel]

nBSG box-set would be a great idea - Chris already has Season 1 and 2, so a copy of Season 3 and 4 would be a good gift I think.

As to the prosecutor, he was of course an entirely differnet man from the guy at the first trial.

[SCRawl]

The fact that the prosecutor basically said "Yeah, we agree with the defendant" makes me wonder: why, if they did not disagree, did they even need the appeal? Why, after having looked over the files and saying "oops, we fucked up with this guy", would the prosecutor not file a petition on behalf of the state to have the conviction thrown out? It can't be a matter of stubborn pride, since he basically owned up during the appeal.

[Darth Wong]

Where did the link go for his Paypal account?

[Singular Intellect]

Oh my god, that's great to hear! The prosecutor conceded the case? What does that mean when it comes to police corruption, etc.?

I don't know what Australia is like. In North America, Chris would get out and then immediately sue.

Shouldn't he be entitled to some sort of compensation for his wrongful imprisonment?

I would seriously argue so; losing years of your life behind bars as an innocent is a very serious fuckup.

[Schuyler Colfax]

Some places give like $100 for each day you were imprisoned or $5000 for each year. Depends on location I guess.

[DaveJB]

It's possible that the state may offer him an ex gratia payment. However, they're under no obligation to do so, and if they choose not to award Stofsk anything, then there's no way that he can try and sue them into paying out, at least if I understand the law in question correctly. Link

Individuals wrongfully convicted and imprisoned do not have a common law or statutory right to compensation in any Australian jurisdictions other than the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). However, a state or territory government may choose to make an ex gratia payment either on its own accord or as a result of a request by a party for such a payment.

An ex gratia payment is a '[p]ayment of money made or given as a concession, without legal compulsion' (Butterworth 2004). The term literally means 'out of grace' rather than as a debt of justice. State and territory governments are not obliged to make ex gratia payments in respect of wrongful convictions and a decision to refuse to make a payment is not reviewable in any way (Butterworth 2007). Ex gratia payments are made in a wide range of situations other than to compensate for wrongful convictions, including as a means of implementing financial aid packages to individuals after natural disasters. In some Australian jurisdictions, the relevant Attorney-General's office may publish general guidelines detailing the factors normally assessed in awarding ex gratia payments. Sometimes, specific guidelines may be promulgated to deal with particular types of payments. There are currently no publicly available guidelines in any Australian jurisdiction specifically dealing with ex gratia payments for wrongful conviction. Beyond that a conviction was wrongful, it is difficult to identify the factors that need to be present for a wrongfully convicted person to be compensated, nor how such compensation will be quantified. A high public profile seems to be a good start in terms of background circumstances, although even this does not guarantee success (Percy 2007).

Occasionally, facts surrounding a wrongful conviction may also support tortious claims, such as a false imprisonment, malicious prosecution or misfeasance (New Zealand Law Reform Commission 1998; Percy 2007). These tortious causes of action are very difficult to prove. Even very compelling cases of wrongful conviction will generally not give rise to a successful claim in tort. They require specific additional facts to be present beyond simply that a conviction was wrongful. As such, the protections offered in tort law to wrongfully convicted people are more of theoretical rather than practical utility.

The other type of award that needs to be distinguished from compensation is legal costs. Normally a successful criminal defendant will not be awarded the legal costs expended in defending criminal charges. However, where there have been malfunctions in the criminal process, courts in some Australian jurisdictions may award legal costs to a defendant (Fox 2005: 78, 307-308). Such awards relate to legal costs expended, not compensation.

Compensation or not (he really deserves it though) this is wonderful news, and I hope he's free ASAP.

[Rye]

Beautiful! Took it's fucking time, like, but I'm glad it didn't end up even shittier. If I had my way, the people who fucked up would get 4 years in.