GTA killer case clears hurdle

By Curt Feldman, GameSpotPosted 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

  • yarow12

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 7:39 pm PT

    WTF? This is utter BS. Why would U sue the publishers and retailers of a video game that a "murderer" played? I don't recall gun sellers being s7ued when a serial killer shoots a little girl. And what did they do to the kid? Is he still in jail or what? o.O

  • themadddog54

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 10:58 pm PT

    Jack thompson sucks

  • leafdj

    Posted Feb 21, 2007 4:59 pm PT

    Wow, and all I ever did was crash into things in GTA. Does this mean I'm going to go insane and jack a car? Retards these days...
    Might as well sue his parents, and the company that made the weapons, and his teacher and classmates......

  • Cloud737

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 5:39 am PT

    WTF? The world is full of morons. Few are sane, moral and intelligent.
    No publisher, game, person could be responsible for another man`s crimes, ever. And this is really obvious. But still, the parade continues.
    Maybe next time someone will shoot a cop, he will blame the current gta, and then ask Thompson to defend him as the true evil and murderer was Rockstar.
    Also, as iamdaman said, I really wish one of those gta fan killer would kill Thompson and everyone on his bandwagon.
    Flunk you, Thompson!

  • iamdaman13

    Posted Oct 16, 2006 5:54 pm PT

    I wish one of those alleged GTA fan killers would target HC and Jack Thompson.

  • Riverwolf007

    Posted Sep 26, 2006 10:54 am PT

    Ok this is the third report of some dumba$$ quoting the columbine killers with that "life's like a video game everybodys gotta die sometime" line
    when #1 hardly anyone dies in sports games, cept in real life and #2 the ones you do die in you die hundreds of times. So to all you potential mass murders out there that have played GTA but haven't snapped yet may I suggest coming up with a new tag line for your police statements and the media, perhaps "Life is like a video game and i was never very good at either one" or "Wheres jack thompson and hillary clinton because i know they will foot the bill for my legal defence since it will further their careers"

  • hart704

    Posted Aug 16, 2006 8:50 pm PT

    I have tons of M rated games. Come and arrest me too! Come on! I'm beggin' ya, Thompson! Make me famous!

  • lunchboxer

    Posted Aug 9, 2006 9:14 pm PT

    i remember this $h!t. i was so mad. o ya blame that on the game.

  • azkickin

    Posted Jul 9, 2006 8:55 pm PT

    This is the stupidest thing I have heard of people blaming games for their own actions obviously he isn't right in the head. People that are right in the head know that it's just a game.

  • Hair_So_Spikey

    Posted Jun 18, 2006 5:29 am PT

    My only fear is that the judges will be like this "well it's just a game might as well be safe and ban it after all it's JUST a videogame" then what will be next? it's just a T.V. show...just a movie...just a book...if a case like this ever wins in america it will be the killing blow on something i like to call freedom also it's promoting non responsobility for violent criminals and that's just irresponsoble on Thompsons part.

  • bbqsauce34

    Posted Jun 8, 2006 9:25 am PT

    and hey. people say I look like an orc.

  • bbqsauce34

    Posted Jun 8, 2006 9:20 am PT

    How about EA? Shouldn't they get the finger pointed at too?
    This is all going too far. Maybe I should sue Peter Jackson for making Lord of the Rings. That seemed violent, and racist against Orcs.
    ...?

  • jak23

    Posted Jun 5, 2006 3:33 pm PT

    well if a drive-by occurs in some big city. would video games be involved?I think not. or if some one was raped and they blamed gta for it would they get a light sentence of 1year in jail or prison? possibly!

  • Sidrat2004

    Posted May 19, 2006 3:48 pm PT

    Not that I agree with the lawsuit, after all the families should be suing the man convicted of the crime.

    I think Jacks main point is that the film, book and music industry isn't an interactive (yet) medium, whereas games are.

    I wonder when we'll see the day when a rookie baseballer makes it to the Majors by playing the Wii Nintendo baseball game?

  • Homermon

    Posted Apr 30, 2006 11:12 am PT

    You know, like O'l jack is really annoying. Video games are getting a bad rep beacause they arent accepted into todays "media". If you want to ban violent videogames you might as well ban movies, books, music, and the news. Every one of those things talk or shows violence. VIdeo games are no different. You you mix up life with a game, you shouldnt be playing games.

  • thenavman

    Posted Apr 14, 2006 10:05 pm PT

    Go Rock*!!!

  • Mam00th

    Posted Apr 14, 2006 3:40 pm PT

    Any publicity is good publicity

  • akchase47

    Posted Apr 13, 2006 10:23 pm PT

    i thinks its stupid just because he happened to play a game, makes it the games fault that he shot a cop, we dont see people blaming video games for making people think they can roll over everything to make large balls of miscelanous items, or people thinking that they are a medival warrior because they play alot of middle ages games, blaming anything on video games is ridiculous, people will do what people want to do, reguardless of what games they have played. Even people who say video games affected them are BS!!! If video games affected the way people acted we would be seeing alot crazier things then just people shooting other people.

  • gkiller

    Posted Apr 11, 2006 6:59 am PT

    Jesus christ, that Jack T. is sure one hell of a moron. I wonder why they should "destroy" rockstar, they sell their games to millions of people, yet there are probably less than 20 people that killed "because they played GTA". Bullsh*t emperor yea, burn in hell dumbtard.

  • Zorak000

    Posted Apr 8, 2006 4:16 am PT

    That dude that tried to shoot Regan was inspired by a movie where a guy tries to assassinate the Pres. to impress a girl. Why did the movie industry not have to deal with that?...

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