Twins Awarded $1.5 MILLION in Defamation Lawsuit After Being "Falsely" Accused of Cheating On A Test

There's nothing that warms my heart more than watching a run of the mill person stumble into a life changing amount of money, through no fault of their own. Just someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time. I've dreamed of catching a bag like this my entire life. I'm sure I've said this before, but that's why I always stomp on subway grates when I walk around New York City. I walk as close to the street as possible in hopes of a city bus clipping me with a rearview mirror. I hang out next to dumpsters on the off chance the garbage man accidentally picks me up with his giant garbage truck claw, and throws me in the back with the trash.

I met a stand-up comedian in Los Angeles who spent 10 years as an actual hobo. He would legitimately sneak onto cargo trains and ride from city to city, experiencing America as a homeless vagabond. Super nice guy. He ended up in Los Angeles during Occupy LA. I forget the details, and I definitely can't confirm this, but the story he tells is that him and a group of people were unlawfully arrested while protesting. They ended up reaching some sort of settlement where each person who was arrested was given $10,000. He used the money to rent an apartment. He ended up subletting me his spare room ($600/month in Silver Lake, incredible deal). On the weekends he would still take the bus to random street corners in "hot spots" of the greater Los Angeles area. He'd camp out on a corner for a few days, and would come home Sunday night with like $500. What a legend. He was a true professional. A master of his craft. Pretty good stand-up comedian too. Shout out Adam.

But these South Carolina Medical School students caught their bag in an unconventional way. If you didn't read the article, here's the gist of what happened. These twins were both medical students, and sat next to each other during an exam. Their exams were very similar, and they were accused of cheating. The twins claimed they were not cheating, and that they just have similar brains (because they're twins). They didn't end up getting kicked out of school or anything. They were actually fully cleared of whatever pending charges they had a few days later. But they said their lives had been RUINED by the accusations. That their classmates had turned HOSTILE towards them, as they were suspected CHEATERS. They ended up dropping out of medical school, and filed a defamation lawsuit against the University of South Carolina. After 6 years in court, they won $1.5 million.

A few thoughts on this. First off, this is a great move by any set of twins. I've always been very anti-twins who do everything together. It creeps me out. Grow up and be your own person. But, if you're going to go to school together, it appears you can cheat off each other all you want, and if you get caught you can just cry twin brain. What a loophole. That's pretty smart.

Secondly, could this have really caused them $1.5 million in damages? Keep in mind, they were fully cleared of all charges. They claim their lives were RUINED due to the "hostility their classmates showed to them following the incident". Personally, I can't imagine giving a single fuck if one of my classmates cheated on an exam. Everybody cheats on exams. If you ain't cheating you ain't trying. Maybe medical school is different. I'm sure it's more competitive, and maybe graded on a curve, but who has the energy to hold that against someone? These hot twins claim it had become SO HOSTILE that they could NO LONGER LIVE THEIR LIVES.

NY Post - “It was the biggest moment of our lives,” Kayla said. “We’ve been living with this for six years and we’ve finally had everything restored to us.”

Maybe I'm not being sympathetic enough. Being accused of something you "didn't do" has to be infuriating. But these girls are acting like they had EVERYTHING taken from them. In reality, they dropped out of medical school, enrolled in law school, and are now practicing lawyers. They are very well-adjusted 31-year old adults. I think they're doing ok. I'm sure the incident sucked, but the whole thing seems very dramatic. $1.5 million for mean looks from their classmates. Incredible.

Maybe they're just playing it up to secure the bag. I couldn't blame them for that. Or maybe South Carolina Medical School students are the most competitive people in the world. I can only dream of being caught up in a defamation scandal like this someday. There are bags out there people. It's up to us to find them. Let me know if you have any ideas.