GTA killer case clears hurdle

  • By Curt Feldman, GameSpot
  • Posted Mar 30, 2006 4:49 pm PT

Alabama suit against gamemakers and retailers proceeds as state's top court denies appeal; Jack Thompson promises case will "destroy Rockstar."

The jostling for position continues in the civil suit that pits the estates of killed cops Arnold Strickland and Leslie "Ace" Mealer of Fayette County, Alabama, against the makers and sellers of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

In a criminal case that made national headlines in 2003, carjacker Devin Moore, in police custody at the time, grabbed one of the arresting officer's guns and shot and killed that officer and two others. Moore later told investigators, "Life is like a video game; everybody has to die sometime."

Moore admitted to playing Vice City, which is published by Rockstar Games, prior to the killings, and was later convicted of murder. Shortly before that conviction, a civil lawsuit was brought against Sony, Rockstar parent Take-Two Interactive, Wal-Mart, and GameStop on behalf of two of three officers' estates.

In a decision handed down last week and first reported by the Associated Press, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the defendants to dismiss the case. That decision keeps alive the $600 million lawsuit blaming the publishers and retailers for contributing to the actions of Devin Moore back on June 7, 2003.

The Supreme Court justices issued their decision without comment, letting the case proceed to trial. The court did, however, open the door for additional delays or dismissal as it agreed to hear claims that the Alabama court lacks the power to hear the case, according to the Associated Press.

Florida attorney and antigame activist Jack Thompson, who penned the original complaint with fellow attorneys Patrick Gray and Raymond Reiser, told GameSpot today he expects the ongoing litigation to both "destroy Rockstar [Games]" and "change the face of the entertainment industry."

Thompson removed himself from the case in November, 2005, after defense attorneys asked Fayette County circuit judge James Moore to remove the lawyer for violations of legal ethics.

A defiant Thompson today said, "I am counsel for all of the plaintiffs, they are still my clients, I was the one who won the First Amendment argument in the hearing on November 3, 2005, which trial record was what was appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, and I fully expect to be in the courtroom trying the case when it is tried."

432 Comments

  • Enderexor

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 1:42 pm PT

    This is a fairly hard thing to put a finger on. On one hand it HAS been confirmed that to an extent video games have some influence over the mind. But that influence is minor and nearly not even there if the person knows. "Hey its just a game, its not real, its fun but this is not really happening to me." However some one that would let a game influence him like that needs to be put in an institution. If he lets what is not real have that much influence over him he is sick in the head.

    On the other hand any lawyer that has half a brain that works sould know that video games are an art form. As such are protected under the Bill of Rights. Tompson meet Bill of Rights, Bill of Rights meet Tompson. It is extreamist and oppressive to try and have the Government regulate Videogames. Hillery Clinton (Liberal Democrat and one who has tried several times to break the Bill of Rights) apparently has figured that if lawyers like Tomson are attacking Videogames then lets get on the band wagon and give them a hand.

    Problem is that many of the older Generation are not very educated in how Video Games work and the ESRB's regulations. They don't know what the letters M or A stand for. So when a kid gets his hand on some major explicitives its not "THEIR fault. THEY had no idea." No excuse, if your kids play videogames just talk to the people at the stores and have them explain what these letters stand for. Not to much of a hassle. Its not the industrys fault if they are ignorant of ratting which are there for this reason in the first place.

    It does not help when media like CNN make the Industry sound like some sort of money gobbleing, slime spitting monster. Considering that so many are uneducated in these matters they can inflame the problems.

    Could the video game industry help its situation? Of course and that is already under way. So far it has preformed very well under strain and that is very Honorable in my opion. They are willing to say "yes we messed up we are fixing the problem."

  • mindcas

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 1:37 pm PT

    Religion has killed more people throughout the ages and still does than video games when is Jack going to try and ban that? People need to be held responisble for there own actions.

  • AcidJiles

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 1:37 pm PT

    omg what an utter load of crap

  • CommonerChaos

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 1:27 pm PT

    Why does RockStar get blamed for everything. And Jack Thompson is a snitch..

  • Kfoss

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 1:23 pm PT

    MY NAME IS JACK TOMSON!!! AND I HAVE GREY HAIR!!!! ROCKSTAR WILL BE DESTROYED!!! I TELL YOU!!!..BECAUSE I NEED THE PUBLICITY ON CNN!!! MY NOSE IS FUNNY SHAPPED!!! THE WORLD WILL OBEY ME!!! I WILL DOMINATE THE WOLRD WITH MY GREY HAIR!!! MUA HA HA HA!!!!!... why must this go on!! for the love of mario somebody give these guys some E3 booth babes!!! lolLOLOLOL

  • carabetta

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 1:02 pm PT

    i don't believe this, i can't, it's something to stupid to be true.

  • jasonmacrillo

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 1:00 pm PT

    I hate it when people listen to crazy people.. There is no excuse for killing someone, if the accused watched a violent movie 10 years ago and killed someone.. he would blame the movie. If he read a violent book 50 years ago he would blame that. He is prob crazy, but thats not a videogames fault.

    As far as the retailers fault.. well they did nothing wrong by selling perfectly legal merchandise... blame them if you are crazy I guess...

  • white121212

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 12:51 pm PT

    The guy who killed the cops is a dumb ass. That doesn't mean we all are.

  • jmac415

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 12:46 pm PT

    Anyday now I expect a victim of drunk driving to sue an automobile company for providing the vehicle that caused the accident.

  • dastuff4U

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 12:44 pm PT

    If your so concerned then stop f*****g morons that buy games and do stuff like that. Do they see how many ppl don't do that, 1/3 of the country are gamers. Probably about 7 of them do something violent cause of playin games. Its not like you hear a lot of these storys at all, thats the first one i've heard of.

  • scheibe

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 12:20 pm PT

    TBS:Very Funny!

  • tylerbbadd1

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 12:19 pm PT

    Jack Thompson is an idiot, and so is anybody who thinks video games are like real life. Yeah, it's very tragic what happened to the police officers, and I'm sorry for it, but video games DO NOT and SHOULD NOT have anything to do with real life, even if real-life situations and people are represented in the video games. Most gamers are mature enough to realize this, while a handful can't seem to grasp this information.

  • so_funny15

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 12:15 pm PT

    First of all, to quote Mencia, "DUH DUH DUR!"
    (Don't care if I couldn't spell that correctly. Sue me)

    And second of all, I feel bad for Wal-Mart and Gamestop. What did they do? All they did was sell games that were freely available and highly popular. The ESRB passed it, no one made a fuss about it before the incident, and now just because someone dies its the retailers' faults? That's bull! Its not like the guy was a minor or something and the retailers gave him the game anyway, without parental consent and despite the rating. They were just doing their job. Collateral damage at its finest ya'll.

  • damz

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 12:04 pm PT

    ROFL this has got to be one of the funniest things i have ever head of, people blame a game for a criminal trying to escape from the police -_-, seriously some people need to get a life, anyway dont rockstar have offices in other countries?, just move to the uk where this farce would not have gotten so far

  • maverick21311

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 11:51 am PT

    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
    I think some of our "elected officals" should have some remedial education on the laws that are the foundation of our great land. Make no mistake these people don't care one ioda about your welfare. Hillary Clinton worrying about the welfare of our child please spare me. She is so eager to tells us what is right and wrong yet lets not forget the white water affair. I respect Joe Liberman but I thibnk he is sorely mistake with this legislation. This is no different than suing Macdonalds and the other fast food chains for making you fat. I think we should all go out an dget a copy of George Orwell's 1984 because that is the world they want us to ultimatly live in. Besides under their logic shouldn't Ted Kennedy sue the Alcohol companies for chapaquiddick.

  • Hydrolix

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 11:46 am PT

    I don't think that Rockstar will ever be found liable. Back in the 70s the supreme court said that Ozzy Ozbourne was not responsible for his listeners who committed suicide...

  • cusoker

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 11:46 am PT

    To bad he just wont go away... if he was my neighbor we would give him h3ll for acting the way he does.

  • Cyber-Head

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 11:44 am PT

    SOLITAIRE MADE ME FRIGHTEN A CAT!!

  • Merl57

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 11:28 am PT

    ITS MOORES FAULT AND HIS PARENTS FAULT NOT THE GAME. CAVEMAN KILLED EACHOTHER WITHOUT ANY MEDIA ITS HUMAN NATURE

  • gtomlinson

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 11:26 am PT

    Hey, I heard the guy ate a McDonalds hamburger the day before. I think Thompson should sue McDonalds for the influence the hamburger had in his actions. When will Thompson give it a rest and let people be responsible for there own actions? This murderer is not a victim of video-game violence!

  • burtlo

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 11:08 am PT

    Video gaming is one the top up-and-coming media types in recent years and with it's rise there are a lot concerns and questions about the effects of this media on individuals that readily consume it.

    I imagine that this discussions parallels the arguments that surrounded the printed materials that have ever been banned or still banned. Print was considering amazingly powerful in a long forgotten day. Some would argue that the gams are a much more pervasive and unique, unlike that of printed media.

    I think that's true. Are there enough cases to argue that games are an influence on it's players? And how many cases of violence would there have to be for it to seem "worth" it to ban or regulate the gaming industry?

    The results are a bit subjective, the data not always clear. Correlation (i.e. murder of two cops) is not causation (i.e. He did it because he played a game that allows you to perform those behaviors). The freedom of speech is an important freedom, that at it's heart doesn't deal with the idea or the implications of what the idea expresses. This tenet, which our nation is founded on, transcends the nation itself because it comes with no political/social bias.

  • Night_Frost

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 10:49 am PT

    that Jack Thomspon reminds me of the cheif from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, but really, what's the point? This is the same issue for the past...uh...decade or so and what happened? Not a darn thing, lawsuits and bills, but they get tossed away like your daily garbage, Rockstar should've never used that Hot Coffee mod, maybe this whole issue would've never been brought up...

  • krabbypatties

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 10:49 am PT

    There should be some kind of test you have to take to gage whether or not a person is stable enough to handle certain game ratings, then get issued a card that has to be scanned anytime you buy a video game. So then if you're in your right mind you can buy whichever games you want, but if not you're limited to which games you're allowed to buy.

  • kevin82485

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 10:31 am PT

    Also as a side note, why is congress wasting time with this? Are there not better things that need to be done in this country? Homeless, poor, underprivileged children, health care, etc. Why the hell is congress worried about a few deviant people?

  • kevin82485

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 10:26 am PT

    Next time I get a speeding ticket I'm going to tell the cop I was speeding because I saw it in a racing video game. Then I'm going to sue the game makers, publishers, the store I bought it from, and anyone else I can think of who was involved with the game because there is no way I'm going to be accountable for my OWN actions. It's always someone else's fault.

  • bossjimbob

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 10:02 am PT

    Quite simply, the kid was disturbed and his parents are more to blame than Rockstar. Why did they let him play the game in the first place?

  • greenson

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 10:02 am PT

    All this cause the guy said he played GTA: Vice City. How lame is that. Playing that game is like watching the gay version of the Three Stooges. He wasn't even playing GTA: San Andreas.

    Why can't these genius lawyers spend more time trying to free the West Memphis Three or Leonard Peltier. Yeah, that's right, look it up.

  • iwannamilkbone

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 9:51 am PT

    Walmart sold GTA, My grandma bought a sweater from walmart, She THUS supported GTA AND those murders! SUE HER!!

  • gilhelm

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 9:46 am PT

    ok, first of all....

    ....could these people try any harder to find a scape-goat? Seriously, if he had said "Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what yer gonna get" they'd be sueing Tom Hanks, Ron Howard and ever chocolateer in the nation. Look out Willy ...What ever happened to people killing other people because THEY DON'T WANT TO GO TO JAIL!? Do they say what he was arrested for? Whatever it was, did he do it cause he learned how to in Vice City? Was he wearing a hawaiian shirt and stone-washed jeans while listening to Flock of Seaguls on his Walkman? Maybe he learned these actions from Grand Theft Auto 3?

    ....but no...the blame is pointed squarely at Vice City. Makes you think huh....

    Also, I just want to say how much Joseph Lieberman has ruined it for the entire nation.

  • Hellisunreal

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 9:44 am PT

    this guy is just using others as vectors for his own publicity, so he can get some cash. I'm sure he ain't no upstanding citizen.
    I think ppl need to dig up dirt on this 'thompson' guy, so the world can know what type of a scamster he really is....

  • thornpaw

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 9:43 am PT

    What a sad, sad day. So why aren't they suing the makers of the handgun? It just is too stupid. You cannot hold a game accountable for someone's actions. Why are the wasting time with this again? What is next suing TV shows or the news because of stuff on their? Why not go all the way back on all the films made where a law enforcement officer is killed by someone. Every single western would be sued.

  • gtrslinger

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 9:42 am PT

    Well the reason that old crusty waste of life Hillary Clinton gets made about fcking hookers is simple...........it hits home with her!!! OH TAKE THAT HILLARY , YOU MAN BILL IS GETTING SOME STREET BOOTY!! haahahhahah!

  • frankeyser

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 9:39 am PT


    (recklessdoc
    destroy rockstar? lol hey guys know what? yesterday, a guy was killed in a car accident, maybe we should ban everyone from driving cars! (select an action below) ______________ Report Abuse To Moderator Posted Mar 30, 2006 5:00 pm PT )

    actually driving is a privledge not a right.... so you are basically saying take our ritghs away to play games and make it a privledge....

  • MetalContra

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 9:24 am PT

    Why don't they sue the makers of Scarface and other such violent movies. Video Games and movies are no different in this regard; its fiction. Movies have real life people and not pixels, R* is as safe as the movies industry.

    Side note; hot coffee mod; killing cops and running over people is ok, but fcking a hooker is where hillary clinton draws the line!?

  • merlin77022

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 9:12 am PT

    I have a simple question. Would they have gone after Milton Bradley or Parker Brothers if the guy had said that he had just lost a vicious game of Connect Four or a marathon game of Monopoly??

  • SunLord592

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 8:53 am PT

    if rockstar wins the lawsuit i think they should sue the ppl who made the lawsuit for loss of business. Rockstar must of lost millions over this for lawyers and crap so the others should pay up for wasting time.

  • Phazevariance

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 8:37 am PT

    Games don't kill people. People kill people!!!



    What's to say a movie like SAW won't create a mass murderer with the grotesque ways of killing someone and not himself doing the killing. Why haven't we banned movies yet? That is because watching violence deosn't mean you're going to kill someone, it is the circumstances of ones life that creates that type of person.

  • foxhound421

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 8:17 am PT

    everyone's a damn vicim in this country. "R* made me kill my daddy!" when did we, as a society, drop all responsibility for our own actions and start listening to the groups like the ACLU tell us that everything we do is someone else's fault. we need a loser-pays court system wherein if someone brings a frivolous lawsuit against anyone and loses, they have to pay all court, and lawyer fees associated with both sides. that is the ONLY way that people will stop this crap that's not only costing everyone else tax money, but breaking down the ideal of America itself.

  • volumesoxxs

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 8:14 am PT

    Jack Thompson should die a painfull death and go to hell cuz nobody wants him here. On the other hand the murderer should go with him, he just wants to take someone down with him so he blames rockstar. I personally play the GTA series and dont feel a sense of rage or killing after I play them, infact the graphics and physics are barely real. In my opinion we should be more worried about television and media then video games if your talking about changing peoples minds for the worst. But all in all its their decision to do whatever they want and you cant blame someone like rockstar.

  • CaptainLunchbox

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 8:06 am PT

    is it just me or does jack thompson kinda look like John Stewart of The Daily Show?

  • zecsmarquis3000

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 8:04 am PT

    I like virtual gardens.

  • alialo

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 8:03 am PT

    Even if Rockstar was 'destroyed' in America they have Rockstar Leeds in the UK, and nothing can be done about that.

    I can't see it happening anyway.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 7:55 am PT

    fine with me. i don't care for teh GTA.

  • KynKoolij

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 7:47 am PT

    I don't vote. Specifically for the reason that people tend to take a topic like this and turn it political. Does anybody really think a politician gives a **** what we need or want? We're like bugs to them. Like several people have said already, it's a person's own fault when they take a weapon into their hands and kill another human being for no good reason. It doesn't make a dam bit of difference which person sits around in a suit discussing whether or not I need to start paying more taxes when I can barely afford to live off of my income as it is. Go ahead and take all the republicans out of office, see if **** gets any better. I could care less.

  • nitsua78

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 7:38 am PT

    I'll play a little devil's advocate here and say that games like GTA and RE shouldn't get into the hands of little kids or people that do have some sort of problem where gratuitous violence could be mentally damaging. I hope that most of us here could agree on that.

    But this type of craziness needs to come to an end. PEOPLE, not some company with deep pockets, but people commit murder and other such violent crimes. PEOPLE should be heald accountable. I really don't think there is a corporate mandate at Rockstar to create games that encourage people to commit violent crimes, nor at Sony, Wal-mart, or Gamestop. SHOW ME THE MEMO FOR THAT CORPORATE MANDATE AND THEN YOU CAN GO LAWYER CRAZY UNTIL YOU'RE BLUE IN THE FACE! Otherwise, stay out of my entertainment choices. Cops getting shot and killed... not good. Suing R* and Sony because GTA made him do it... I'm not going to dignify that with a response.

    Honestly, this is steaming from our political environment. War - good. Invading a sovereign nation without good reason - good. Games and media that don't fit in with the conservative, protect the American sheep... er, public because they're too stupid and we should keep them that way mentality - bad.

    GET OUT THERE AND VOTE! Let's all collectively put down the controllers, keyboards and mice, find out who's running for office and what they stand for, and let's vote in the right people. And don't wait until 2008! There are congressional elections this year. You don't like who's in there, cast your vote for the other guy. You don't vote (assuming you're 18+), don't complain!

    In closing, Jack Thompson is a complete whack-job.

  • therealtorb

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 7:34 am PT

    Guys...I think racing games are promoting breaking the speedlimit, and, as we all know from driver's ed: "Cars are weapons in the hands of the wrong people," thus, I think we should sue all racing game publishers for encouraging us to break the law and street race, etc.

    /sarcasm

  • KynKoolij

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 7:30 am PT

    Americans have been killing each other for 200 years now, and under our constitution tried in a court, with a jury. People have been killing each other for thousands of years. Sometimes for no reason. Sometimes for a good reason. The civil war, world war 1, 2, the korean war, the vietnam war, all happened before video games. We could ban all forms of entertainment, and ban all weapons. People will be still be killing each other with sticks, rocks, and their bare hands. Anyone who thinks differently is a moron.

  • iagothemad

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 7:27 am PT

    My only worry is that people in the jury will be ignorant enought to see this as something other than the lame duck it is.

  • miiiguel

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 7:12 am PT

    Comunism, Fascism and other governement control should be old-news by now. The only way for society to improve is to make citizens responsible for their actions. Society evolved from supporting human sacrifices (in ancient dictatorships) to the implementation of the human rights, by following the later path, not by governement control.

  • thefutureofball

    Posted Mar 31, 2006 7:10 am PT

    AWWW Mistuh Thompson so cuteeeeeee

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Related Game

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Boxshot
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Game Stats

  • Rank:
    83 of 79,297
    (down by 6)
    PS2 Rank:
    2 of 3,726
    Tracking:
    13,443 Track It»
    Wishlists:
    1,269 Wish It»
  • Users Now Playing:
    3,786
  • Number of Players:

    1 Player

  • Top 5 User Tags:
    1. gta
    2. vice city
    3. grand theft auto
    4. rockstar
    5. ps2
  • Mature Rating Description

    Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. Learn more

Full Game Details »Close
Also on

Related Games

Recent News

See All News »

Site Blogs