Chris' appeal is done.

[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.

[Tanasinn]

How nice of them, they only stole five years of his life before admitting their incompetence.


Good news, anyway.

[DarkSilver]

I'll look through my archives of LA's old site design...see if I still have the link one one of those

If I find it Mike, I'll send it to you in a PM.

[Enigma]

This was the only good news I've had for a while. Definitely put a smile on my face now that Chris will be out soon.

[The Vortex Empire]

Great news! I had been expecting the worst.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Woot!, damn, I hope Chris gets out soon.

[Braedley]

Really good news.

On the question of compensation, I think just the threat of a lawsuit should be enough to convince the government to offer at least some compensation. AFAIK, Australian civil suits aren't decided by jury as they are in the States, which is partly the reason for inflated damages in the States. However, a civil suit will also cost the government more than just the damages payout.

In any case, it's good to see that this hell and insanity is nearly over for Chris.

[tim31]

Best news we've had all year! What a changed world he'll be released into though... I know he's still been able to keep up on current events, but reading about it ain't the same as living it.

[Wyrm]

YAY!! One more shittrain has ended! Cake for everyone!

[Shinova]

I'm interested in what prison life was like, just out of curiosity purposes. I wonder if he'd be willing to post about that sometime.

[Flagg]

Glad it looks like that farce will be overturned. Whether he's guilty of the crime or not, that trial was a fucking joke and in the interest of justice he deserves to walk.

[Havok]

I'm interested in what prison life was like, just out of curiosity purposes. I wonder if he'd be willing to post about that sometime.

It sucks. I would recommend against bringing it up either.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I'm interested in what prison life was like, just out of curiosity purposes. I wonder if he'd be willing to post about that sometime.

Knock off a 7/11 and find out for yourself?

More seriously, ask Shep. He really is a nice guy and he's quite willing to talk about his prison experience.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

There was nothing approaching 'justice' in any of this...

...but that doesn't change the fact that this is a fucking wonderful occurance. I can't wait to see him online again, he disappeared back when I was little more than a newb.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

I'm going to me-too here by saying this is great news! I don't know Chris very well but I am elated to hear this. I wish him luck in finally getting back on with his life.

[Edi]

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

<snip>

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

Have to say that that particular compensation law sucks shit. In Finnish law, a person wrongfully imprisoned is automatically entitled to compensation and the determination was done partly by a gaovernment agency and partly by the courts, depending on whether there is disagreement over the amount.

[The Spartan]

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.

Vympel would be able to answer this, I presume, but, was it the same prosecutor that persued the case?

[SCRawl]

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.

Vympel would be able to answer this, I presume, but, was it the same prosecutor that persued the case?

The prosecutor at the appeal wasn't the guy who did the trial.

[White Haven]

How nice of them, they only stole five years of his life before admitting their incompetence.


Good news, anyway.

Excuse me, incompetence? That was malice, pure and simple, not simple idiocy.

[CmdrWilkens]

Well finally got off my tuckus and sent something over. I had written Chris a few times back during the trial and immediate aftermath but trailed off. So anyway the email address is valid so I highly recommend send a bit to help out, they can definately use every bit for those legal bills.

[Anguirus]

Amazing news! I have been used to expecting the absolute worst when it comes to any posts about Stofsk...but it sounds as if he may well be getting his life back.

[Alex Moon]

Get him a girl. A high class girl. You can even have her dress up in a Slave-Leiah outfit to keep up the sci-fi theme.

[Pelranius]

Ah, good news and best wishes to Chris and his family. Some things do work after all.