Appeal court acquits man jailed over a misread Skyrim username

A Canadian man who served an 18-month prison sentence has been declared factually innocent after his lawyers found that police had subpoenaed the wrong username, differing from the suspect’s by a single character.

Brandon Klayme was arrested in Halifax, Nova Scotia in February 2020 following an investigation by police in Wisconsin into messages exchanged with a child on the Kik messaging platform. The account at the centre of the case used a handle referencing the Unrelenting Force dragon shout from The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.

One underscore apart

The suspect’s handle was spelled with two underscores after the first syllable. The subpoena sent to Kik asked for the account with one underscore, which belonged to Klayme. Kik returned his subscriber details, and officers traced him to Nova Scotia, searching his home and seizing phones and laptops.

PC Gamer reported, citing the sentencing order, that no images or chats connected to the case were found on any of Klayme’s devices. He was convicted in April 2023 and sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by 18 months of probation, with the court relying on IP addresses and other online account information.

The discrepancy went unnoticed until lawyers preparing his appeal reviewed the original subpoena. In an affidavit filed with the court, Klayme said the request had named the one-underscore handle rather than the suspect’s, and that the difference was never raised at trial.

Not a technicality, the court said

In late July the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned the convictions and entered acquittals on every charge. The panel went out of its way to say the outcome was not a matter of reasonable doubt or a trial error.

The ruling stated that had the correct username been used at the start of the investigation, the steps that led to Klayme would not have followed. The court also indicated the correct handle would likely have pointed investigators to someone in California. It is not clear whether Klayme will seek compensation for the time he served.