Devin Moore: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:38, 15 October 2008

Devin Moore (born 1985) is a criminal from Alabama who sparked a large controversy over the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City when he committed three acts of first-degree murder against three people in the Fayette, Alabama police station in 2003. Moore killed two policemen, Arnold Strickland and James Crump, and a dispatcher, Leslie Mealer, after being booked on suspicion of stealing a car. He then fled in a patrol car. According to the Associated Press, after his recapture he said, "Life is a video game. Everybody's got to die sometime."

The controversy involving his relation to Grand Theft Auto was revealed during an episode of 60 Minutes in March 2005. In the episode a student demonstrated the Grand Theft Auto games to them, explaining that in one of the games there is a mission that depicts exactly what Moore did: escape a police station, kill officers and escape in a police cruiser.

Moore faced trial in 2005. 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.

The families of Moore's victims are taking legal action against Sony, Take-Two Interactive, Wal-Mart and GameStop for their part in the manufacturing and selling of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Jack Thompson was representing families in the suit as an out-of-state attorney on pro hac vice status. His pro hac vice license was revoked by Judge James Moore on November 18, 2005, and he was effectively removed from the case. The judge stated that "Mr. Thompson's actions before this Court suggest that he is unable to conduct himself in a manner befitting practice in this state."

References

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-== Devin Moore ==
+'''Devin Moore''' (born 1985) is a criminal from Alabama who sparked a large controversy over the video game ''[[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]]'' when he committed three acts of first-degree murder against three people in the Fayette, Alabama police station in 2003. Moore killed two policemen, Arnold Strickland and James Crump, and a dispatcher, Leslie Mealer, after being booked on suspicion of stealing a car. He then fled in a patrol car. According to the ''Associated Press'', after his recapture he said, "Life is a video game. Everybody's got to die sometime."
-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 officers' .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]
+The controversy involving his relation to Grand Theft Auto was revealed during an episode of 60 Minutes in March 2005. In the episode a student demonstrated the [[Grand Theft Auto|Grand Theft Auto games]] to them, explaining that in one of the games there is a mission that depicts exactly what Moore did: escape a police station, kill officers and escape in a police cruiser.
-On August 12, 2005 Thompson officially filed Strickland vs. Sony. The third victim's family later joined the lawsuit.
+Moore faced trial in 2005. 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.
-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.
+The families of Moore's victims are taking legal action against [[Sony Computer Entertainment|Sony]], [[Take-Two Interactive]], Wal-Mart and GameStop for their part in the manufacturing and selling of ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City''.
-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."
+[[Jack Thompson]] was representing families in the suit as an out-of-state attorney on pro hac vice status.  His pro hac vice license was revoked by Judge James Moore on November 18, 2005, and he was effectively removed from the case.  The judge stated that "Mr. Thompson's actions before this Court suggest that he is unable to conduct himself in a manner befitting practice in this state."
-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.
+==References==
+*[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/17/60minutes/main702599.shtml 60 Minutes - "Can A Video Game Lead To Murder?"]
+*[http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/03/29/ala_appeal_in_game_blame_killings_nixed/ Boston Globe - "Ala. appeal in game-blame killings nixed"]
+*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/11/gta_not_guilty/ The Register - "'Grand Theft Auto' cop killer found guilty"]
+*[http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=25370/ The Inquirer - "Grand Theft Auto player gets death penalty"]
-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 jurisdiction did not extend to Spector's place of residence. On November 9, 2005, Spector lashed out at Thompson for taking his comments out of context, saying "Take-Two or three things, from different contexts, mash them together and you can mislead people pretty dramatically".
+[[Category: People]]