http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devin_Moore_%28murderer%29#Devin_Moore *** *** ***
- Strickland v. Sony is a court case whose central focus is on whether violent video games played a role in Devin Moore's
first-degree murder/shooting of three police officers. In August 2005, former attorney
Jack Thompson filed the lawsuit against
Sony.
* Devin Moore was convicted in 2005 for the 2003 shooting of 2 police officers and a dispatcher as he was being detained for allegedly stealing a car. He grabbed one officer's .45 caliber pistol and killed all three before fleeing the station in a police cruiser he stole from the station. He was eventually caught and sentenced to death by lethal injection.
* In March 2005, Thompson announced he was filing a lawsuit on behalf of the families of two of the three victims in Fayette, Alabama. He was also featured in a 60 Minutes special on the case.[1]
* On August 12, 2005 Thompson officially filed Strickland vs. Sony. The third victim's family later joined the lawsuit.
* On Tuesday, November 1, 2005, Thompson sent an email to various websites commenting on the opening day of the civil trial. In it, he compared Sony and Take-Two Interactive's sale of the Grand Theft Auto video game to Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. According to Thompson, certain regional governments in Japan had prevented the sale of the Grand Theft Auto games to minors, though Sony continued to sell the game where its sale was not restricted in Japan and abroad (Microsoft is doing the same for its own video game console). Thompson also compared the distribution of violent games to the distribution of pornography.[2]
* On Friday, November 4, 2005, Blank Rome submitted a motion to have Thompson removed from the case, stating that Thompson would "turn the courtroom into a circus."[3]
* On November 7, 2005, Thompson withdrew from the case, stating, "It was my idea [to leave the case]." He was quick to mention that the case would probably do well with or without his presence. This decision followed scrutiny from Judge James Moore, however Thompson claimed he received no pressure to withdraw. At the same time, Judge James Moore had taken the motion to revoke Thompson's license under advisement. Jack Thompson appeared in court to defend his right to practice law in Alabama (using Pro Hac Vice), following accusations that he violated legal ethics.[1] [4]
* Just before leaving the case, Thompson filed a motion with the court, quoting noted designer
Warren Spector (
Deus Ex,
Thief) as being critical of Rockstar's actions, taken from a speech Spector gave at the
Montreal International Game Summit. He even implied that Spector could be served a
subpoena to testify, even though the court's juri
- Devin Moore (born Devin Darnell Thompson on 15 May 1985) is a criminal from Alabama who sparked a large controversy over the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
* Moore was apprehended several hours later in Mississippi. According to the Associated Press, after his recapture he said, "Life is a video game. Everybody's got to die sometime." Once in custody, Moore quickly confessed. He told detectives that he shot the men because he didn't want to go to jail.[7]
* The controversy involving his relation to Grand Theft Auto was revealed during an episode of 60 Minutes on March 6, 2005[citation needed]. In the episode a student demonstrated Grand Theft Auto to them, showing them the adult nature of the game.[citation needed]. Moore, who had recently graduated from high school, had never been in trouble before. He had enlisted in the Air Force and was due to leave for service at the end of the summer.[8]
* Moore faced trial in 2005 and pleaded not guilty.[9] The trial judge barred the defense from introducing evidence to the jury that Grand Theft Auto incited Moore's shooting spree. Moore's attorney, Jim Standridge, contended that Moore was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at the time of the crimes. Standridge argued that Moore had been emotionally and physically abused by his father as a child.[10]
* In August 2005, Moore was convicted as charged and on October 9, 2005 he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Jim Standridge appealed the case.