Identical Twin Escapes Gallows in Real-Life Prisoner’s Dilemma

In a rare real-life, high-stakes demonstration of the prisoner's dilemma—two suspects can both escape consequences, but only by trusting each other not to snitch to authorities—a judge in Malaysia has freed a man facing the gallows in a drug-trafficking case.

That's because, due to a police error, no one but the suspect—and his brother, who is his identical twin—knows which man should be tried in the case, according to the Telegraph. DNA testing would not have helped, because identical twins have the same DNA.

Police arrested one twin in 2003, allegedly finding drugs in the trunk of his car and in nearby home in suburban Kuala Lumpur to which he had keys. Then, when his brother at the scene arrived a short time later, they arrested him, too, the British newspaper explains. Unfortunately for authorities, however, they didn't keep close track of which twin was which, since the keys provided evidence that only the twin who held them may have had knowledge of the drugs in the house.

Dismissing the case, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Zaharah Ibrahim said: "Although one of them must be called to enter a defense, I can't be calling the wrong twin to enter his defense. I also can't be sending the wrong person to the gallows," reports Agence France-Presse, based on an article in the New Straits Times.

The twins, 27, tearfully embraced after her ruling. Execution is a mandatory sentence in Malaysia for drug trafficking, once the crime is proven.