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Friday, August 12th, 2005
Time
Event
2:26p
Devin Moore, 20, was sentenced to death by an Alabama jury for murder of two Fayette police officers and a police dispatcher.
The all-white jury voted 10-2 in favor of putting Moore to death by lethal injection in just three hours' time. However, the jury's decision only has the force of a recommendation. Judge James Moore will actually issue the sentence. The judge immediately ordered a sentencing investigation and set a date of Sept. 30th, at which time Devin Moore will officially learn his fate.
As reported by the Tuscaloosa News, District Attorney Chris McCool praised the jurors.
"It's easy to sit around saying, 'I'm for the death penalty,' When you're the one trying to implement it or the juror trying to decide it, it takes on a whole different light."
Reporter Robert Dewitt reported that the families of the victims embraced, but showed no signs of celebration. Willie Crump, the father of slain police corporal James Crump, was teary-eyed upon hearing the sentence.
"It's miserable to have to go through this. It's like you go through the whole thing again."
The jury rejected Moore's insanity defense, based in part on his obsessive playing of Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City. When apprehended, Moore reportedly told police officers, "Life is like a video game. You have to die sometime."
Now that the criminal case has been resolved, a civil suit filed against Sony, Take-Two, Wal-Mart and GameStop on behalf of the victims' families by Miami attorney Jack Thompson may go forward.6:56p
Now that GTA cop-killer Devin Moore has been convicted and sentenced, Jack Thompson stands ready to proceed with the lawsuit on behalf of two of Moore's victims. The Associated Press found Thompson unconcerned about the failure of the "video game defense" in the criminal trial.
"What happened in the criminal case does not cut us off from what we can prove and what we have evidence on," he said. The defendants in the case, Sony, Take-Two, Wal-Mart, and GameStop, have petitioned the court to dismiss the suit.
In other Thompson news, the self-described "anti-game crusader" issued an "ultimatum" today....to Bill Gates. The attorney's message to the world's richest man?
Dear Mr. Gates:
You have fifty-four (54) days in which to stop the release of Bully on XBox.
Govern yourself accordingly.
Sincerely, Jack Thompson
Copies: Senators Clinton, Schumer, Lieberman, Santorum, Brownback
Media
Others
EDITOR'S NOTE: 54 days or what, Jack? Have you got any idea how ridiculous you sound?
Finally, the staunch Republican Thompson's newfound affection for Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has definitely cooled. Jack sent out a press release this week with the heading "Senator Hillary Rodham Benedict Arnold Clinton."
Thompson bemoans Hillary's upcoming $1,000-a-plate fundraiser sponsored by ESA President Doug Lowenstein. In his message Thompson claims that he "prepped her, through her staff, three weeks ago for the hugely successful GTA: San Andreas news conference that targeted the hidden sexual content in that game." Thompson calls Hillary's fundraiser a "flip-flop."9:19p
Spent some time in a radio studio this morning being interviewed on the local NPR affiliate here in Philadelphia, WHYY-FM. The program was generally about game ratings, but touched on a lot of different game-related topics. Kevin Haninger of Harvard was also a guest. He's done quite a bit of research on game ratings. If you want to check it out here's a link to a Real Audio file (it's about a hour long)... By the way, the ESRB was invited to participate by WHYY, but never responded.
We might be changing the look of GamePolitics shortly. A friend, Chris, has created a better-looking graphic for up top.
One of our regulars - was it you, JB? - suggested adding a forum that would let us kick around some of our more controversial topics at length. We had a forum when GP kicked off back in March, but traffic hadn't built up so I 86'ed it. Should we create a forum? Or is the comments feature sufficient? Let me know what you think...
I'm thinking about changing the blog software by year's end. I'd like something a little more flexible. Any suggestions cheerfully accepted...
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