GTA Cop Killer Lawsuit Begins Today - GP's Predictions

GamePolitics has been previewing the Strickland vs. Sony case all week as game-bashing Miami attorney Jack Thompson and lawyers for the video game industry defendants have been preparing to square off in a rural courthouse in Fayette, Alabama. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, as well as perhaps the future direction of video game design, so, yeah, this is a big, big case.

GP won't rehash the background of Strickland. It's all available here on the site if you just scroll back a few days. But we did promise our readers a prediction on the outcome of the case, so here's what GP's crystal ball says will happen when the trial opens today at 1:00 P.M. Alabama time:

First, the defense team's attempt to remove Jack Thompson from the case via their motion to revoke Thompsons's Pro Hac Vice admission to the Alabama Bar will fail.

While the defense attorneys made an interesting case to remove Thompson, much of the evidence they offered is subject to interpretation and opinion. What's more, the right to choose one's own attorney is a powerful thing in the American legal system. GP believes that Judge Moore, an old-school jurist, will be reluctant to deny the plaintiffs their preferred lawyer - especially when those plaintiffs are the grieving families of two murdered police officers and a murdered police dispatcher, public servants of the Fayette community.

So Jack Thompson stays on the case.

That, however, will be Jack's only victory in Alabama. GamePolitics foresees Judge Moore granting a defense motion to dismiss the case based on a lack of merit, effectively ending the proceeding before it gets started.

Why?

While it's true that death row inmate Devin Moore did play Grand Theft Auto III and GTA Vice City, Judge Moore (no relation) is well aware that the youthful cop killer had a horrendous upbringing by a drug-addicted mother and a severely abusive father. Doubtless the judge has seen many similarly damaged children end up in the clutches of the criminal justice system and standing before him for sentencing.

What's more, there is simply no compelling evidence indicating that playing a violent video game can turn someone into a triple murderer. The conservative, no-nonsense Judge Moore does not seem the type of jurist to discard the notion of personal responsibility in favor of a gimmick such as "video games made me do it." Remember, too, that Judge Moore refused to allow any video game testimony at Devin Moore's criminal trial on the murder charges in August.

So, GP predicts game over for "Strickland vs. Sony," unless Jack Thompson has some type of appeal up his sleeve. We should know more by late this afternoon, so stay tuned.

There is one caveat to this prediction, however. Thompson informed us late yesterday morning that the defense team submitted what he described as a "300-page attack on me" to the court. It is not known what the new document entailed and we have been unable to reach Thompson for comment as he is doubtless busy in preparation for today's opening of the case.