Boy Shoots Parents, Games Blamed: A judge says 'the Halo 3' warped an Ohio boy's mind.

Boy Shoots Parents, Games Blamed
A judge says 'the Halo 3' warped an Ohio boy's mind.
by Ryan Geddes

January 14, 2009 - A judge in Ohio has found a 17-year-old boy guilty of shooting his parents in 2007 after they argued about whether he should be allowed to play Halo 3. The Entertainment Software Association's blog GamePolitics.com has a transcript of the judge's statements about the case, and they are highly critical of videogames.

Testimony during the trial attempted to prove that the boy, Daniel Petric, was insane, but Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge found that the evidence wasn't sufficient to support that defense, finding the boy guilty instead (Petric's mother died in the shooting). However, the judge had much to say on videogames' supposed role in the tragedy. Burge said Petric was so immersed in the world of videogames that he no longer had the ability to anticipate the consequences of his actions.

"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 judge said.

Burge goes on to explain that the judicial system has much to learn about gaming, a statement that we tend to agree with after reading the rest of the judge's statements on the topic:

This Court's opinion is that we don't know enough about these video games. In this particular case, not so much the violence of the game because I believe in the Halo 3, what it amounts to is a contest to see who can shoot the most aliens who attack.

It's my firm belief that after a while the same physiological responses occur that occur in the ingestion of some drugs. And I believe that an addiction to these games can do the same thing. The dopamine surge, the stimulation of the nucleus accumbens -- the same as an addiction. Such that when you stop, your brain won't stand for it.

Petric was found guilty of the aggravated murder of his mother and the attempted aggravated murder of his father, a reverend. The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper has a video of the judge's comments, which you can view here.

A 17-year-old who doesn't believe that his parents will be dead forever if he kills them seems to me to be one of the textbook definitions of insane! You don't get to have your cake and eat it, too, stupid judge.

Burge goes on to explain that the judicial system has much to learn about gaming, a statement that we tend to agree with after reading the rest of the judge's statements on the topic

lol Geddes OTM