Sanders v. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
| Citation | 188 F.Supp.2d 1264 |
| Decision Date | 04 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.01-B-728.,CIV.01-B-728. |
| Parties | Linda SANDERS, Constance Adams and Cynthia Thirouin, on Their Own Behalf and as Representatives of William David Sanders Their Step Father and Husband of Linda Sanders Thru Next Friend & Personal Attorney, John W. DeCamp, on Their Own Behalf & on Behalf of All Other Columbine Victims Including, Parents, Teachers, Students Living, Injured & Deceased, Plaintiffs, v. ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT, INC., Activision, Inc., Apogee Software, Inc., Atari Corporation, Capcom Entertainment, Inc., Eidos Interactive, ID Software, Inc., Island Pictures, Infogrames, Inc. f/k/a GT Interactive Software Corp., Interplay Entertainment Corp., Midway Home Entertainment, New Line Cinema, Nintendo of America, Meow Media, Inc., d/b/a www.persiankitty.com, Network Authentication Systems, Inc. d/b/a www.adultkey.com and porntech.com, Palm Pictures, Polygram, Sega of America, Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc., Square Soft, Inc., d/b/a Square USA, Inc., Time Warner, Inc., and Virgin Entertainment Group, Inc. Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
John W. DeCamp, DeCamp Legal Services, P.C., Lincoln, NE, for plaintiffs.
Gerald Owen Sweeney, Jr., John Thomas Williams, Lord, Bissell & Brook, Chicago, IL, David B. Higgins, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC, Lakewood, CO, James Hubbell, Kelly/Haglund/Garnsey & Kahn LLC, John R. Mann, Kennedy & Christopher, P.C., Denver, CO, James T. Drakeley, Don Wade Cloud, Jr., Hiersche, Hayward, Drakeley & Urbach, P.C., Addison, TX, Thomas B. Kelley, Faegre & Benson, United States District Court, Denver, CO, Paul March Smith, Jenner & Block, Washington, DC, Andrew M. Low, Davis, Graham & Stubbs LLP, United States District Court, Denver, CO, Stefan Darrell Stein, Sherman & Howard, United States District Court, Denver, CO, Christopher Michael Caparelli, Mary Elizabeth
McGarry, Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, New York City, for defendants.
In this diversity wrongful death action controlled by Colorado tort law, Defendants Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., Activision, Inc., Capcom Entertainment, Inc., EIDOS Interactive, ID Software, Inc., Infogrames, Inc., f/k/a GT Interactive Software Corp., Interplay Entertainment, Corp., Midway Home Entertainment, Nintendo of America, Palm Pictures, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Time Warner, Inc. move, pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted as to all claims brought against them by Plaintiffs Linda Sanders, Constance Adams and Cynthia Thirouin (collectively, Plaintiffs) the widow and step-children of William David Sanders, a teacher killed in the April 20, 1999 attack on Columbine High School. Oral argument would not materially assist in determination of the motions. After consideration of the motions, briefs and pertinent case law and for the following reasons, I grant the Rule 12(b)(6) motions.
Plaintiffs allege that Columbine High School (Columbine) students Dylan Klebold and/or Eric Harris, both approximately 17 years of age, were co-conspirators in a plot and scheme to assault, terrorize and kill Columbine teachers and students. On April 20, 1999 at approximately 11:20 a.m., Klebold and Harris approached the school armed with multiple guns and other "weapons of destruction" including explosive devices. See Amended C/O, ¶ 3-4.
After shooting at people outside the school, the pair entered the school building and continued their deadly assault inside Columbine. Twelve students and teacher William Sanders were killed. Dozens of others were injured. Id. at ¶ 4.
In the aftermath of the massacre the police allegedly learned that Harris and Klebold were avid, fanatical and excessive consumers of violent ... video games ... [and] consumers of movies containing obscenity, obscenity for minors, pornography, sexual violence, and/or violence. Amended C/O ¶¶ 6-7. One movie the pair viewed was "The Basketball Diaries" in which "a student massacres his classmates with a shotgun." Amended C/O ¶ 7.
According to Plaintiffs, "but for the actions of the Video Game Defendants and the Movie Defendants, in conjunction with the acts of the other defendants herein, the multiple killings at Columbine High School would not have occurred." Id. at ¶¶ 17, 32. Based on the foregoing, Plaintiffs filed this action on April 19, 2001.
Claims and Defendants
Plaintiffs bring the following claims against Defendants:
1. Claim One for negligence and strict liability against Defendants Time Warner, Palm Pictures, Island Pictures, New Line Cinema and Polygram;
2. Claim Two for negligence and strict liability against Defendants Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., Activision, Inc., Apogee Software, Inc., Atari Corporation, Capcom Entertainment, Inc., EIDOS Interactive; ID Software, Inc., Infogrames, Inc., f/k/a GT Interactive Software Corporation, Interplay Entertainment Corp., Midway Home Entertainment, Nintendo of America, Sega of America, Inc., and Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.; Square Soft Inc. d/b/a Square USA, Inc. and Virgin Entertainment Group, Inc.,
3. Claim Three for negligence and strict liability against Defendants Meow Media, Inc. d/b/a www.persiankitty.com and Network Authentication Systems, Inc. d/b/a www.adultkey.com and www.porntech.com; and
4. RICO activity by Defendants Meow Media, Inc. d/b/a www.persiankitty.com and Network Authentication Systems, Inc. d/b/a www.adultkey.com and www.porntech.com.
Plaintiffs sue Defendants Time Warner, Palm Pictures, Island Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Polygram as the makers and distributors of "The Basketball Diaries." Defendants Time Warner and Palm Pictures (Movie Defendants) filed Rule 12(b)(6) motions which I resolve in this Memorandum Opinion and Order.
According to Plaintiffs, in "The Basketball Diaries, the protagonist inexplicably guns down his teacher and some of his classmates in cold blood, among other acts of gratuitous violence." Amended C/O ¶ 11. Purportedly, this had the effect of "harmfully influencing impressionable minors such as Harris and Klebold and of thereby causing the shootings." Id. at ¶ 12.
Plaintiffs sue Defendants Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. (Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II), Activision, Inc. (Wolfenstein, Mech Warrior, Mech Warrior 2, and Nightmare Creatures), Apogee Software, Inc. (Wolfenstein and Doom), Atari Corporation (Doom), Capcom Entertainment, Inc. (Resident Evil), EIDOS Interactive (Final Fantasy), ID Software, Inc. (Quake and Doom), Infogrames, Inc. f/k/a GT Interactive Software Corp. (Doom), Interplay Entertainment Corp., (Redneck Rampage), Midway Home Entertainment (Quake and Doom), Nintendo of America (Nightmare Creatures), Sega of America, Inc. (Quake), Sony Computer Entertainment America (Final Fantasy), Square Soft, Inc. d/b/a Square USA, Inc. (Final Fantasy) and Virgin Entertainment Group, Inc. (Resident Evil) for manufacturing and/or supplying the designated violent video games allegedly frequently played by Harris and Klebold. See Am C/O ¶¶ 20-21.
Video Game Defendants Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., Activision, Inc., Capcom Entertainment, Inc., EIDOS Interactive, ID Software, Inc., Infogrames, Inc. f/k/a GT Interactive Software Corp., Interplay Entertainment Corp., Midway Home Entertainment, Nintendo of America, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc., filed Rule 12(b)(6) motions addressed in this Memorandum Opinion and Order.
Plaintiffs allege that the Video Game Defendants manufactured and/or supplied to Harris and Klebold these video games which made violence pleasurable and attractive and disconnected the violence from the natural consequences thereof, thereby causing Harris and Klebold to act out the violence ... [and] trained [them] how to point and shoot a gun effectively without teaching either of them any of the constraints, responsibilities, or consequences necessary to inhibit such an extremely dangerous killing capacity. Amended C/O ¶¶ 25-25.
Plaintiffs bring Claims Three and Four against Defendants Meow Media, Inc. d/b/a www.persiankitty.com and Network Authentication Systems, Inc. d/b/a www.adultkey.com and www.porntech.com. (Internet Defendants). No Rule 12(b)(6) motions have been filed by the Internet Defendants. Consequently, I do not address Claims Three or Four in this Memorandum Opinion and Order.
The negligence and strict products liability Claims One and Two against the Movie and Video Game Defendants contain the following common allegations:
1. Defendants knew that copycat violence would result from the use of their products and materials. See Amended C/O ¶¶ 16(a), 29(b);
2. Defendants knew that their products and materials created an unreasonable risk of harm because minors would be influenced by the effect of their products and materials and then would cause harm. See Amended C/O ¶¶ 16(k), 29(h);
3. Defendants knew or should have known that their products and materials were in an unreasonably defective condition and likely to be dangerous for the use for which they were supplied. See Amended C/O ¶¶ 16(v), 29(v); and
4. Defendants failed to exercise reasonable care to inform consumers of the dangerous condition of their products and materials or of the facts which made their products and materials likely to be dangerous. See Amended C/O ¶¶ 16(i), 29(k).
5. Scientific research shows that children who witness acts of violence often tend to act more violently themselves and to sometimes recreate those violent acts. See Amended C/O ¶ 13 (Movie Defendants); and
6. Massive volumes of scientific research show that...
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