Court gives go-ahead to GTA murder lawsuit

[wraggster]

Source Gamesindustry (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=15765)

Alabama's Supreme Court has given the go-ahead to the lawsuit filed against Sony, Take-Two and US retailers by relatives of police officers murdered by a Grand Theft Auto fan.

A trial judge refused to dismiss the suit, and the defendants have been given no leave to appeal the decision. As a result, the trial could commence later this year or some time in early 2007.

However, the defendants do have the option to launch a challenge over whether the Alabama courts have the power to try the case - which could mean further delays.

The lawsuit was filed by the families of two police officers and a dispatcher who were murdered by 18 year old Devin Moore in June 2003. Moore pled not guilty by reason of mental defect, but was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to death. The plaintiffs claim that Moore trained to become a killer by playing Grand Theft Auto.

Their case was initially presented by anti-videogames campaigner and lawyer Jack Thompson - but he withdrew from the case last November following accusations that he had violated legal ethics.

[DraconumPB]

stupid, stupid people. a very sad story, but sadder is that people are starting to become able to blame entertainment as a corrupting media.. leave it Orrin Hatch and freinds to blame everybody except the people actually committing the crimes and/or their parents, depending on age.

I think that if GTA had any sort of detrimental effect on the killer, he MUST have had a mental defect. because, most normal people can handle that sort of thing...

[felonyr301]

well if a kid uhmm excuse me i mean adult cause you have to be 17 and up to play this game doesnt know the difference between game and real then he really has a mental defect and was just trying to accuse something else besides himself to maybe get a less worse sentence like any lil kid would blame something else for their actions and these parents oh my god thats another topic for another day (stop complaining dumb adults the game says its for 17 and up)

[felonyr301]

its funny that this society trys to ban any sex related things but violence is A ok to some when i rather have my kid know about the sex then violence because duh violence hurts others in massive effect than sex in a general view i mean.

[shenske37]

i think it is absolutely insane for people to continually point the finger at gta. i'm tired of the constants slander. people know the difference between real life and a videogame.

heres an extreme similarity:

1
gta you kill people(not the only thing but still)
murderers obviuosly kill people
gta nust have trained him to kill people. there is no chance that that his background could have affected his motive to kill.

2
pacman eats dots
cannibles eat people
what if a cannible eats someone and police find a copy of pacman in his appartment. Oh no pacman must have trained him to eat people.

as extreme as that may be its basically the same situation only a childish comparison (so what).

its very easy for people to point the finger at violent videogames its a giant target to turn to. guess what i love to play gta and i don't act violently and i don't kill people, it didn't train me to do anything but get better at playing the game.

by the way, pacman didn't influence my either

[rock_light]

Sounds very typical to me. Maybe if the violence wasn't so rampant in the world we wouldn't even HAVE games like GTA. The world is affecting video games not the other way around.

Not to say that playing GTA did not in fact affect the boy's choice to kill. That may be true, but you are going to have to blame a hell of a lot more people than are just in the video game industry.

Who's fault was it that guns were accessible to a 18 year old?!?

-Blame rockstar. Its gotta be them

What made this kid want to play GTA in the 1st place?

-Gotta be all the GTA ads all over the place! Cartoon pictures of slum folk and palm trees always makes me wanna rape, shoot n' steal! Don't you?

What made him ssSSoOO mad at the officer in the 1st place?

-Maybe it's that damn chopper hovering over his Sentinal and chippin his new spray job? Those things they drop in the road to damage yer tires?

Gee sounds like a good reason to get off the couch go grab some shells and await a fresh victim to me.

OBVIOUSLY it must be GTA I'm so glad I realized this before I let my nephew touch my PSP. Cuz you never know what a 3 1/2 year old will be capable of after playing a few hours of GTA:LCS.

Sounds like some typical greeedy folk to me. No matter what happens in america you always hear of somebody getting sued. Funniest true story about that is the guy who rode his new RV off the road while making coffee with cruise control.

:mad: "Whadda ya mean cruise control doesnt drive it for you!? I couldda been KILLED!" :mad:

[sroon]

I got my Gta from the SONY STORE and im 5 foot 2 and 16 years old.
its kinda odd isnt tit.

[felonyr301]

ill be more impressed that if they sue the money doesnt go to these people who are suing and just put that money somewhere else like donation you know and if that ever happens these people will go crazy like wheres the money and then they show their true faces greedy *******s

[pinkpanther]

this is exactly why kids/adults with mental disorders should not be given these games. watch over your kids people!! :mad:

[NeoXCS]

America is sue happy, thats just how it is. Too much greed. It's quite insane to sue someone because the person played a game and then kills someone. The vast majority of games have violence to some degree. Just because gta shows a realistic senario and someone plays it doesnt mean its to blame for their actions. I think things are getting way outta hand blamming games. I mean movies are more real and depict much worse, and yet noone really blames them. Also how could you train on gta, seriously? "Press the circle button to fire, where the hell is that???" ~holding a gun~ Eh, thats my two cents.

[iniquitous_beast]

It is ridiculous really. GTA is super-popular among Americans. People of all ages own it. Therefore, it is highly likely that if you search the house of anyone between the age of 15 and 30, you will likely find a copy of GTA or some other violent game.

If video games were to blame for Americans' violent actions, then the nation would have already fallen into anarchy.

Regarding the supposition that this guy used the game for "training": This proves that the game couldn't have influenced his decision to kill the cop. He desired to kill the cop prior to beginning his "practice" on GTA. And honestly, who needs a game to teach them how to point a gun at somebody and pull the trigger?

Personal Observation: GTA does not encourage the killing of Police officers. In the game, when you fight the cops, you always lose. The cops keep coming in increasing force until you are gunned down. If anything, people who play GTA should be LESS INCLINED to assault a police officer.

[bullhead]

A grand theft auto fan did not kill a police officer, a... PSYCOPATH... killed a police officer.
Only in america. For god sake!

[Ennohex]

Same old story of the "insert any excuse here" made me do it. I needn't say anything more.

[idapimp]

im glad he got sentenced to death. death to all idiots. lets sentence some more idiots to death. kill 'em all.

[idapimp]

of course the world would be a better place without my opinions.

[felonyr301]

you never see people complain for the love nope just sue just to get the money thats why i dont pay attention to those people anyways its just greed to me

[Ziro]

Video games don't kill people. Chuck Norris does.

[cartmandude14]

It is ridiculous really. GTA is super-popular among Americans. People of all ages own it. Therefore, it is highly likely that if you search the house of anyone between the age of 15 and 30, you will likely find a copy of GTA or some other violent game.

If video games were to blame for Americans' violent actions, then the nation would have already fallen into anarchy.

Regarding the supposition that this guy used the game for "training": This proves that the game couldn't have influenced his decision to kill the cop. He desired to kill the cop prior to beginning his "practice" on GTA. And honestly, who needs a game to teach them how to point a gun at somebody and pull the trigger?

Personal Observation: GTA does not encourage the killing of Police officers. In the game, when you fight the cops, you always lose. The cops keep coming in increasing force until you are gunned down. If anything, people who play GTA should be LESS INCLINED to assault a police officer.

Right on man! Dude i heard of therapists telling kids with suicidal and other killing tendencies to play GTA as a serious stress relievel instead of actually killing someone/something. Plus violent games have been blamed since the beggining. One of my favourites (DOOM) was partially blamed for the columbine killings, hell even a mom sued nintendo for violence in Pokemon and Mario! :eek: So here is my personal point of veiw on it, im almost 14 now and i've been playing GTA for the last 5 years now. I get good grades and have never gotten in a fight. Raising divorce rates and fighting parents is 99.9% more harmful to a kids attitude than a video game. So F%#& Jack Thompson.(hope thats the guy doing all those lawsuits)

[Ennohex]

I think it's quite clear that some Americans are no longer capable of rational thought. I blame their law system. I mean, jay-walking, what the hell is that?
It seems that the more laws there are to serve the people, the more the oppertunists find ways to exploit them for their own gain. Kind of like the whole PSP firmware thing.... Except without the personal gain part.

[vettacossx]

look we have had lawsuits in the past regarding simalar circumstances heres the facts:

there are age exslpicit warnings on the package that "rate" the game that is result of people that like to cause a stink....when does " personal accountability " become a factor

i mean if you bought a movie that was "rated" xxx and left it around for your kidd to wach and be influenced by...not only are you as the parent responsible for the influence it bears ..(positive or negative).but your also responsible for how your "bad guidence for your child" effects others and there children THIS IS ALL A PART OF PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY...how a child handles porn for example is dependent on how the child was raised and how educated he or she is about a given topic if they have "bad" direction they may become a danger to society and rape someone!!! strange things happen but if set in a "good" directive this could be a gr8 learning experiance about love...anyone whos seen a vivid video and said" hey id like to try that position...lol" well my point is this
1 age is a huge factor yes, but the bigger picture is 2: PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY... as the parent its YOUR job to look at the game...then take an "honest" look at YOUR child and make an educated decision BASED ON THERE DISPOSITION... those " m" warnings tell you its a mature audience for this game SO DONT LET A LIL KIDD WHO HAS ALOT TOO LEARN ABOUT MATURITY PLAY A MATURE GAME OMG!!!!if you think that GTA MADE SOMEONE MURDER your MISTAKEN AND VERY SHALLOW "personal accoutability"of parents whom are RESPONSIBLE for there kids and THERE ACTIONS UNTILL THEY R OF LEGAL AGE (18 FOR BYS 21 FOR GIRLS) TO BE "PERSONALLY ACCOUNTABLE" THERE R NO EXUSES FOR LETING SOMEONE MURDER lets not make a video game the one "good " explination for murder.... last i checked there were no good exuses too kill....GET REAL WHEN YOUR IN DEEP ANY EXUSE WILL DO...LYING ,EXUSE MAKING ARE NOT WAYS OF BEING "PERSONALLY ACCOUNTABLE"