Halo 3 Criticized In Murder Conviction 839
oldwindways writes "An Ohio teen was found guilty of murdering his mother and shooting his father in the head after they took away his copy of Halo 3. One has to wonder if this is going to have any effect on the games industry. Clearly, the AP thought they could stir up something controversial by asking the IP owner for a statement: 'Microsoft, which owns the intellectual property for the game, declined to comment beyond a statement saying: "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case."' I suppose the good news is they did not accept his insanity plea, so no one can claim that Halo 3 drove him insane. Even so, I don't think anything good can come out of this for gamers."
Unfortunately, it seems somebody can claim that the game was a contributing factor; the judge who presided over this case said he believes that the 17-year-old defendant "had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever." GamePolitics has further details from the judge's statement. It doesn't help that the boy's lawyers used video game addiction as a defense.
Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a game. (Score:5, Insightful)
he believes that the 17-year-old defendant "had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever."
If someone as old as 17 doesn't understand this basic fact of life, then there's obviously something wrong that has nothing to do with the video game.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Insightful)
Hey, plenty of 17 year olds don't believe death is forever.
They're called "religious".
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Funny)
You know it's flamebaiting to speak about people respawning millenia ago.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
"According to prosectors, Petric, 16 at the time of the shooting, was forbidden to buy Halo 3 by his parents, Mark and Susan Petric. The teen snuck out to purchase the game anyway, and was caught by his parents upon his return. The game was locked up in Mark's lockbox, along with a 9mm handgun."
So no, a history of violence wasn't mentioned in the articles I have seen so far. However, it also says he didn't have a copy of the game.
From the same article:
"Lawyers for the accused delivered a brief statement at the opening of the trial, explaining that their client had be under a large amount of stress after being homebound for a year due to a snowboarding accident with nothing to do but watch television and play video games."
So, presumably he hadn't been playing the game elsewhere.
But don't worry...
"Dad, I'm so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you and to the family," Daniel Petric said, according to his father. "I'm so glad you are alive."
"You're my son," Mark Petric responded. "You're my boy."
Dad forgives him...
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
From this article [kotaku.com]: "According to prosectors, Petric, 16 at the time of the shooting, was forbidden to buy Halo 3 by his parents, Mark and Susan Petric. The teen snuck out to purchase the game anyway, and was caught by his parents upon his return. The game was locked up in Mark's lockbox, along with a 9mm handgun." So no, a history of violence wasn't mentioned in the articles I have seen so far. However, it also says he didn't have a copy of the game. From the same article: "Lawyers for the accused delivered a brief statement at the opening of the trial, explaining that their client had be under a large amount of stress after being homebound for a year due to a snowboarding accident with nothing to do but watch television and play video games." So, presumably he hadn't been playing the game elsewhere. But don't worry... "Dad, I'm so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you and to the family," Daniel Petric said, according to his father. "I'm so glad you are alive." "You're my son," Mark Petric responded. "You're my boy." Dad forgives him...
This is quite revealing. I think it's safe to say there is at least some degree of a lack of rationality in that family that is not Halo 3 related
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Insightful)
Wow. I'd say the real thing to note here is "Don't store the stuff you take from your child as a punishment in the same box as your guns, they might get ideas"
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Informative)
I'd warrant, then, that the kid's probably had as much exposure to the Old Testament as he has to Halo 3. Personally, I'm not in favour of banning either, but if anything...
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Either God went through a pretty radical transformation at some point
Well, the God of the New Testament is markedly different -- I suppose if you're going to try to make your new religion stick, you have to make some concessions to the old way of thinking, but to my mind it's the same mistake as Stroustrup made by making functions non-virtual by default in C++...
(Two religious debates in a single sentence, not bad eh?!)
Re:No on actually reads that thing (Score:4, Insightful)
Based on your comments I think you haven't really read the Bible either.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
It was Lot not moses. A mistake anyone could make. There are a lot of names in that book :p
Re:No on actually reads that thing (Score:4, Informative)
You can't be serious. Moses is a revered religious leader for Christians, Jews, and Muslims -- in other words, the majority of the religious world. Lot is barely remembered, and it's not for anything good.
I am some sort of agnostic, but one of the bible stories I remember vividly is the story of lot, who lost his wife and gained a pillar of salt when she disobeyed god's order and looked back to see what had become of the only home she had ever known. They repaired to a cave where, thinking that they were the last of their people, lot's daughters got him drunk and seduced him for the purpose of continuing their race. Although incest is supposedly not a good thing even by this point in history, they are lauded for doing what they think is necessary for the purpose of continuing their people, though it wasn't even necessary.
Of course, the true story could be that lot got drunk and raped both his daughters. It's pretty hard to tell at this point, and besides, who really trusts an account of events they read in a book?
Lot, however, is considered to be a particularly good servant of god because he grabbed up his family and fled, never looking back, as he was told. DO AS YOU ARE TOLD, that is the message... And Lot is not forgotten. But you're right, that was a pretty sophomoric mistake to make. People who know nothing about the bible or Christianity should educate themselves before criticizing. There are plenty of things genuinely wrong with mainstream Christian faith, there is no need to attack straw men.
Re:No on actually reads that thing (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:No on actually reads that thing (Score:5, Insightful)
I hate doing this because I'm not a Christian, but there is a lot of FUD among atheists with regard to the Bible. They use bad translations and don't interpret the text with the proper context, they just pick and choose specific lines and say here, this is proof of contradiction (ironically this is not so dissimilar of the behavior which they accuse Christians of only picking and choosing which parts to follow). You have to remember that the style of writing was vastly different than the style of today, so using modern day context to interpret a nearly 2000 year old text is just plain stupid. Even beyond the context of the chapter/book/testament they ignore the differences between the Old and New Covenants.
So atheists, until you actually go and bother to read the Bible and are willing to understand it within context it is presented, please stop passing this FUD around. On the other hand, criticizing the belief in religion is just fine and dandy. Trying to use evidence from a specific religion when you can't even interpret it in the proper context is just plain stupid.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
"Hey, plenty of 17 year olds don't believe death is forever.
They're called "religious". "
Kinda hard to sell suicide bombing and similar sports any other way.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
It's called nationalism.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
It's called fanaticism. If it wasn't countries or religions it'd just be something else.
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Doesn't "kamikaze" translate to Divine Wind/Spirit Wind?
I'm not a huge WWII buff, but I believe during the Pacific War (or whatever), the Japanese government recruited literally all of their young men (including college students). They basically were given a kamikaze short course on how to fly, and then were sent on their final mission. My guess is that the gov't used the spiritual connotation as propaganda. I think very few kamikaze pilots believed they were doing it for divine ascension.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Interesting)
No, they're called retarded. There isn't a religon that I'm aware of that doesn't ackowledge that you cease to be a human upon death, and all of them believe its likely to be a one way trip. Some believe in an afterlife, some beleive we go back into a pool of life force, some believe in reincarnation. All of them believe your human life is over.
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ConfÃteor unum baptÃsma in remissiÏOEnem peccatorum; et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
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Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
Damn you guys are worse then the people who knock on my door twice a month.
It is kinda sad for a group of people without a religion or a belief in God(s), that you are are so instantiate to bring up your views on religion even when it isn't part of the topic. Get over it religion will be with us for our lifetimes. I haven't heard anyone give a good enough reason to prove that the Atheist are right, conversely I haven't heard a good reason to prove that religious people are right.
Lets compromise God exists 1/2 of the time. There is a solution that no one likes so therefor it must be a good compromise.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Insightful)
Is He able but not willing? Then is He malevolent?
Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?
Not that I agree with straight-up bashing of religion for bashing's sake, but there's logically nothing in favor of the Faith side besides, well, blind faith.
For the record, I'm agnostic, because I hope there is a God, because that would make things more exciting.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Informative)
Well, the opposite end of the spectrum is people who think they are 'rational' because they believe (without proof) that people came from lightning and mud... :)
Ha! That sounds a lot like the kind of strawman arguments commonly thrown around by creationists and is a poor attempt at attacking Evolution and Abiogenesis. Of course, no rational person believes that "people came from lightning and mud".
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Funny)
Of course, no rational person believes that "people came from lightning and mud".
Exactly! Everyone knows it was dust and breath! /retard
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
There's a word for that: hypocrisy.
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I will also say that "What is it about the anti-religionists that retards their ability for rational thinking?" is possibly the most hilarious statement to level at someone who doesn't believe in God.
Let's not have the "believing in God is perfectly rational, but believing in evolution is not! God put dinosaur bones on the earth to test our faith!" debate. You will lose.
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Hmmph indeed. Your blind acceptance of the drivel that the public gets spoon fed by the media makes me wonder why you read this site.
The blind dismissal of what the media/govt tell us just because they're the media/govt is just as bad the blind acceptance.
As for the videos being faked, I'm sure there are plenty of "experts" who will say it's not faked as well. Just like there were "experts" who said building 7 was intentionally demolished while other "experts" say it was the natural conclusion to a fire ins
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come now, i mean look at the links he posted to support his claims!? I mean, Prison Planet? We're talking about a site that is so insane and disreputable that, when it served to introduce me to Ron Paul (back in 2005), I refused to believe that Ron Paul could possibly exist and had to go off and independently confirm his existence. And lets not even get started on 911 truth sites...
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Funny)
he believes that the 17-year-old defendant "had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever."
If someone as old as 17 doesn't understand this basic fact of life, then there's obviously something wrong that has nothing to do with the video game.
Clearly Halo 3 is at fault. If they had some non-respawning game types this would never have happened...
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
If someone as old as 17 doesn't understand this basic fact of life, then there's obviously something wrong that has nothing to do with the video game.
Obviously. Nobody is arguing that completely normal people would go postal by playing Halo 3. If I said "All you people on slashdot are a wsate of oxygen and should go kill yourself" there won't be mass suicides, but someone already suicidal really sitting on the fence just might. So here we got a borderline psychotic, serious trouble separating famtasy from reality and he's on the fence. Was Halo 3 the push? How much should you pad the world to make sure he doesn't get a push? Or is it him, if anyone had realized how serious his issues are, that should have been put in a padded room? There's a line somewhere there, but I think what 99%+ of the population handles well should never be outlawed. The rest is just triggering some secret freak-out button that can't really be helped. Or rather, those people should be helped if possible.
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Well said. If Halo 3 was the contributing cause to this murder, rather than just a whiny, petulant teenager who killed his parents for not giving into his demands, then there would've been a rash of parricides after the game's release. Since there weren't, it should be obvious the game had nothing to do with this one.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Funny)
This shall be the last post you hear from me, you insensitive clod!
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Funny)
Why, will his text-to-speech clonk out soon?
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Interesting)
People should stay dead when they're killed (except maybe if they're zombies
You might think this would ruin the game, make it useless - but it wouldn't. It would raise the stakes for the player (don't you find a life lasts much longer in an arcade game, when you have to pay for more) and speed up the turnover of the game, raising the income for the writer. Some things would have to change to make the game saleable, but ultimately it would be more involving.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Interesting)
True, but that would be a fun sort of game. Imagine you can have multiple characters - say, a hundred - and this is your own personal "team". Each one on the team has their own individual skills - some randomly given out at spawning, and some trained. Keep the "max skill" cap low and not all that difficult to obtain.
It could be an FPS played just like a sports sim. Some of your team could be on the injured list (things like missing limbs could be explained away by a futuristic setting), and some might outright die and enter "the graveyard", where they are immortalized with their scores, skills, appearance, etc.
This would make a game where Medics are useful - you don't want to lose that guy you spent 2 hours maxing out his skills (ideally, I think that's as long as it should take, tops). You'd sure as hell appreciate the doc when you get revived on the field instead of dying of heart failure. People would actually use COVER and tactics to protect their investments of time.
Lastly, think of the achievments - longest survivor, etc. I think something like this could be fun if it were designed properly.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
About the permanent death: implemented in Diablo and Diablo 2, on the harder difficulty levels.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, I know he was living up in Ohio but come one ...
Guns don't kill people! God do!
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>> "had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever."
Maybe the problem is not the game but his Ubuntu box: he thought "kill parent" is harmless, since the real kill is with "kill -9 parent".
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Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Funny)
One has to wonder how it's a difference for you ;D
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I wonder if we can apply this to anything where you'd have to be fucking retarded not to realise the limitations?
"I'm sorry your honour, I figured you could just issue a judgement that my parents were no longer dead. You guys rule on the laws of man, so why not the laws of physics?"
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:4, Insightful)
Addiction: Not dealt with until far too late.
Child: Not able to tell that 'murder' is a bad idea.
How is it anything other than the parents fault? They're responsible for 17 years of this child's development, and he ended up sufficiently screwed up to murder them as they slept. There's no one else you get to pass that responsibility on to.
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...but he'll always miss his parents.
If they're dead, he obviously didn't miss.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
He killed his mother and shot his father in the head. the father survived.
Daniel's plan was originally to make it look like a murder-suicide, by leaving the gun in his father's hand. After the shooting, Mark Petric said his son put the gun in his hand while saying, "Hey Dad, here's your gun. Take it."
The outrage is from people who are pissed that a manipulative evil piece of shit is trying to avoid a harsher punishment by blaming a hobby which most people here enjoy.
His first plan to avoid getting punished didn't work out so well but a judge seems to have bought into the "it was the videogames fault!",partly at least.
Re:Sure, 17 year-olds believe this because of a ga (Score:5, Insightful)
Daniel's plan was originally to make it look like a murder-suicide, by leaving the gun in his father's hand. After the shooting, Mark Petric said his son put the gun in his hand while saying, "Hey Dad, here's your gun. Take it."
Well there go the theories about him not thinking his parents would be permanently dead. I mean what would happen to the murder-suicide plan once the parents respawned?
Or... (Score:5, Insightful)
"An Ohio teen was found guilty of murdering his mother and shooting his father in the head after they took away his [thing that he really liked]"
If he had a caffeine addiction and his parents took away his Coke would that mean that it was the fault of the Coke that he murdered them?
Re:Or... (Score:4, Interesting)
If he had a caffeine addiction and his parents took away his Coke would that mean that it was the fault of the Coke that he murdered them?
What if he had a cocaine addiction and his parents took away his cocaine?
What if he was an alcoholic and his parents took away his booze?
It's just a matter of defining clearly what constitutes a deranged mind and what is conscious murder intention and/or idiocy. With no regard to the cause of the derangment, nor whether it's chemical or not.
That clear definition is quite harder to produce than it might seem.
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As far as I know, such arguments have no legal bearing. A planned murder is first degree murder, even if you took away the crackhead's stash. Such issues might be considered during sentencing.
Yes, but a large number of crimes of that kind also suggest the possibility of a prohibition on crack.
Re:Or... (Score:5, Funny)
I'm so fucking upset about this matter, the situation among youths of today is absurd!
I mean, come one, how the fuck can you fail murdering your own dad?! How hard can it be? Learn to finish something damnit, lazy ass kids of today!
Re:Or... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Or... (Score:4, Funny)
I mean, come one, how the fuck can you fail murdering your own dad?! How hard can it be? Learn to finish something damnit, lazy ass kids of today!
Well, he was using the wussy ass 9mm. If he had done it right [wikipedia.org] then he might have finished the job ;)
Yeah, I'm going to hell.......
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But of course it is, and of course they'll use that defense: "Yes I did it, your honour, but it was someone else's fault". Society itself would probably not accept the fact that even more or less sane people sometimes shoot each other in a fit of rage. That smacks too much of accidents, and things that society cannot control. Pointing fingers (at games, the gun lobby
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as evidenced by the fact that a 17 year old was tried as an adult. Despite not being an adult.
At 17, you can see an R-rated or NC-17 rated movie, drive a car, attend college, and with proper consent, get married, have kids, and serve your country in the military.
Somehow, I'm finding less and less justification in calling a 17-year old "just a kid", especially when used as a bullshit loophole for the defense with a crime like this.
Spawn point (Score:5, Funny)
"I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever."
The Spawn Point defence should be filed along with the Chewbacca defence in the big book of crazy law.
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I wonder if there is a Rapture defense?
Re:Spawn point (Score:5, Funny)
I'd bet my life on it.
Insanity vs Stupidity. (Score:2)
the 17 year old is clearly too damn ignorant to live.
Why can't the law do something about that? If someone is so freaking retarded that they are sane, but STILL a danger to themselves and society, why can't we just put them out of their misery with a bullet?
Or as someone once said, take the safety stickers off of everything, and let matters attend to themselves?
Anime: more educational than games (Score:5, Funny)
I can see why playing Halo (or, indeed, most games, with the notable exception of NetHack) might make you believe that. If only he had watched anime instead, he would have been taught the cruel reality of murder [imageshack.us].
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guns (Score:3, Insightful)
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For what it's worth: "Prosecutors contend that Daniel stole his father's key to the lockbox where the gun was kept and retrieved the semiautomatic pistol along with a copy of the sci-fi video game 'Halo 3' that his parents had confiscated from him before the shooting." (link [chroniclet.com])
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I'd be guessing from the article as he had the intent and planned it for weeks it would have been a stabbing or bashing if he didn't have the gun.
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He only killed one. He shot his father in the head and he lived. That negates your argument.
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but it's even easier still to kill someone with a gun
I don't think most (sane) gun owners would deny that it's easy to kill someone with a gun. What we would deny is that providing justification for taking those guns away from law-abiding citizens that don't kill people over video games.
Re:guns (Score:5, Insightful)
About a third of murders don't involve firearms. Areas with widespread legal firearms ownership tend to have less crime than areas with severe gun restrictions. Finally, if someone is that nuts, operating an axe, shovel, hatchet or any number of other hand tools is no great obstacle.
Lizzie Borden was just a chick, but did a "hatchet job" quite smartly (and beat the rap too).
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:guns (Score:5, Interesting)
It is still possible but it requires no hesitation, no emotion, and a minimal physical strength.
In case one of these criterion is missing, a gun can help. With a gun you can kill someone out of anger, while filled of contradictory emotions, while crying and without really wanting it. That is how must murders are made. As you pointed out, when carefully planned, a murder do not require a gun. Guns are too noisy and too easy to track down.
Re:guns (Score:5, Funny)
Society is too quick to justify and remove blame! (Score:2, Insightful)
GOD forbid anyone should be held responsible for their actions, or be expected to have any kind of grip on reality. I think people maybe need to realise that sometimes it's not the TV's fault, or the computers fault, or anyone else's fault, perhaps some people really have no concept of consequences until they are sharing a cell with Bubba. I'm pretty sure they are able to catch with reality real quick then.
Where's the logic ? (Score:3, Insightful)
murder weapon? (Score:4, Insightful)
Okay, why hasn't anyone even mentioned the "9mm handgun"? To my simple, unAmerican mind, that seems far more like a murder weapon than the video game.
Talk about elephant in the room.
Anyway, I expect the usual 800-post NRA/2nd Amendment gun nuts vs rational people thread.
Only in America.
Re:murder weapon? (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't forget the people who think that every gun is evil. I don't have any need to own a handgun or rifle, but I support the right of people who do, provided they are responsible (as the father seemed to be, considering that the gun was stored in a lockbox). Yes, the kid used a gun to kill his parents. However, he could also have just used a butcher knife from the kitchen.
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Oh yeah, he was so responsible that he allowed the kid to get hold of the key AND put the game in the same place as the gun.
Ah, if the kid is NOT psychotic, then why the hell didn't he just grab his game when he found it and started playing again instead of attempting to plot a murder-suicide and kill both parents?
And enough with "allowed the kid" crap, he was his son, not someone he didn't know. For all we know, his son knew exactly where his key was, has been on hunting trips with his Dad, and has been trained in firearms safety. Of course, we'll never here THAT side of the story...
Surely more kids are killed in firearms accidents because they "found" a gun while looking in places they shouldn't. You may as well "hide" the gun in the refrigerator or behind the favourite candy stash. That's like hiding the soda next to bottles of bleach, or decanting bleach into soda bottles then storing them in the fridge.
Imagine hiding something from your kids in such a way that ensures that if they do find it, they also find a deadly weapon. Failsafe ?
Ah, no. Most accidents happen when kids ar
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Are these the same "rational people" that work 120 hour weeks programming for a big business, and refuse to unionize? If so, I know a lot of these rational people, and I can tell you that they're clearly insane.
On the subject though, I know a lot of people who have concealed carry permits - in new york city, no less - and they're pretty normal people. Two of them are cops, one of them is an ex-cop, three of them are hunters, and a few of them just happen to love guns.
They've all had their permits for at lea
other uses? (Score:3, Insightful)
Until recently Alaskan state law required pilots of passenger plans carrying 15 people or less to carry a gun as part of a survival kit. Why? If they go down in the woods for bear protection.
They are pretty useful items to have if you live out in the country and need them to protect livestock or yourself if you live in bear country.
Plus target shooting of course.
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Gun - Used to threaten, damage, maim, and kill .... has no other uses ....
That's odd, because I've fired several pistols, shotguns, and a .30-06 and I've never killed anyone. I have killed a few squirrels and birds with a pellet gun, but that's not a proper firearm and I'd put it in the "used for butchering/preparing meat" category.
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You can't just point a butcher knife at somebodies head, and pull the trigger.
Stabbing is not so likely to kill as shooting, as the victim can often fight back, staunch the wound, and call for help.
There is a reason why soldiers are armed with a gun, instead of a knife, or a front loading rifle like the 2nd amendment was written for.
The judge's statement (Score:5, Informative)
FTA:
Another article notes... [chroniclet.com]
So the son was trying to frame the father for murdering the mother. Seems to indicate that he knew death was permanent...
Pardon? (Score:3, Insightful)
I was not aware of the fact that Microsoft also makes guns. Or did he shot his parents dead with the Xbox controller?...
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he is a sociopath, or worst (Score:5, Informative)
Miscellaneous quotes : (http://news.aol.com/article/ohio-teen-killed-mom-over-video-game/302589)
Petric may have been addicted, but the evidence also showed he planned the crime for weeks, said Burge, who found the teenager guilty of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and other charges.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Anthony Cillo argued during the trial that the teenager had planned to make it appear to be a murder-suicide by putting the gun in his father's hand.
The Judge is a Moron.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Quoted from this article [chroniclet.com]:
When he came to a few moments later, Mark Petric said, he saw that his wife wasn't moving, and Daniel was trying to place a 9 mm handgun in his hand.
Prosecutors contend that Daniel stole his father's key to the lockbox where the gun was kept and retrieved the semiautomatic pistol along with a copy of the sci-fi video game "Halo 3" that his parents had confiscated from him before the shooting.
(I snipped a section here)
Prosecutors say Daniel later confessed to the shootings and said he tried to make it appear to be a murder-suicide.
His Defense lawyer is grasping at straws for a reduced sentance, if the kid didn't realize his parents wouldn't be DEAD... WTF would he try and frame his Dad?!?!
One word... (Score:2, Funny)
Mod me down, it was worth it
I can see the warning label (Score:5, Funny)
(It's that good).
Inverted logic ? (Score:5, Interesting)
So yet me see:
- teenager plays Halo 3 for weeks/months/years: does not kill anyone.
- same teenager *stops* playing said game for 1 day: shoots both parents.
So does that mean that playing the game *stopped* him killing real people ?
Déjà Vu (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft... declined to comment beyond a statement saying: "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case."
Wow, déjà vu. That's the same thing they said when Vista was released.
One of these things is not like the others... (Score:5, Insightful)
The father, a minister, had a 9mm handgun that the son, who played video games, used as the tool for his action.
So lets see.
Religion.
Guns.
Video Games.
Which one is not enshrined in U.S. culture and will therefore be blamed.
Re:One of these things is not like the others... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh come on, it was only 9mm. He must be one of the nonviolent priests or he'd have a fully automatic:-)
Let's ban ALL entertainment! (Score:3, Insightful)
Movies, especially, are rather fond of bringing dead characters back to life. Actors go on to play other roles though I am not sure what role Lando Calrisian went on to play after Star Wars, for young developing minds, movies can certainly put some warped perceptions in there. Television is even worse in that it seems to suggest that life's problems can be resolved between 30 minutes to an hour with commercials although on occasion you may have to wait until next week for resolution. (some problems are really that big!)
And if one could actually understand all of the words in music, I suspect one might find some pretty questionable subject matter as well.
Distortion of reality is found in every form of entertainment without exception. I feel pretty fortunate that the world has survived this far!
Helps to read the artical (Score:3, Interesting)
The guy tried to claim that Halo3 made him do it, the judge basically threw that out and called him a cold calculated killer.
They guy is obviously nuts and his defense is trying any old thing to get him off.
Other stupid defenses I can suggest:
* TV made him do it.
* McDonalds made him do it (he must have eaten McD's some time in his life).
* The gun made him do it.
* Society made him do it.
* Aliens made him do it.
Chris Rock said it best (Score:3, Funny)
What kind of music was they listening to? Or what kind of movies was they watching? Who gives a fuck what they was watching?
Whatever happened to crazy?
What happened to crazy? What, you can't be crazy no more? Did we eliminate ''crazy''
from the dictionary?
Fuck the records. Fuck the movies. Crazy!
Re:So why was the insanity plea denied? (Score:5, Insightful)
Good question.
Probably because the legal definition of insanity in order for it to be a defence isn't "The person did something that nobody in their right mind would consider appropriate, they're therefore insane". It's "The person was not aware that what they were doing was wrong, they're therefore insane".
Were this not the case, most of the world's prisons would be significantly less crowded and most of the world's mental hospitals significantly more crowded.
Whether or not this is right and proper is something I leave to the peanut gallery.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The whole commandments things is taken pretty loosly. But joking aside, the text can be better translated as "you must not murder". Murder is unjustified killing. Remember, we have free will and reason. In nearly all adherents to Exodus, we see little to no reluctance to kill when they deem it "necessary". All the disagreement is over when it's necessary.
This is why I don't really see most religions as "war-like" or peaceful, with a few exceptions like the Society of Friends.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You don't see lots of British farmers sons going on killing sprees.
Yeah, the Brits don't have any problems at all [abc.net.au] with youth violence.
its the attitude that a massively out of date law creates in many Americans minds
I think the problem is the attitude of those that would give up an inalienable right because they deem it to be "out of date", but what do I know....