"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous." "In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate thesevicious felonies are members of an elite squad knownas the Special Victims Unit." "These are their stories." "Took longer than I thought." "Yeah, I had a little problemi had to straighten out." "I'm on Broome and Wooster." "You got anything close?" "All right, but hurry up, because I'm absolutely freezing." "Hello?" "Melody?" "Melody?" "What do we got?" "Female, late 20s, no ID, no purse, and not a whole lot of clothes." "Night desk saidshe was run over?" "This is the first hit-and-run rape I've ever seen" "Car drives up onto the sidewalk." "She's standing right herewhen she gets hit." "Impact smashes her right knee, knocks her down." "She falls off to the side." "She left a trail of blood." "Some of the spots have been smeared." "Looks like she tried to crawl." "He only lets her get this far." " Perp came after her?" " Car skids to a stop, perp gets out, ripsff her clothes,and takes her" "Wow." "He rape her hereor somewhere else?" "I don't know." "But this is wherehe beat her to death." "And no one to hearher cry for help." " Who called it in?" " 911." "Anonymous" "Latifah took the call.It came from a payphone uptown," " quarter after midnight." " Okay, here's what I got." "Police dispatch, what is your emergency?" "There's been an accident." "Corner of Broome and Wooster." " Pedestrian struck." " Where are you calling from,sir?" "I think she's hurt.Send a bus." "And that's it." "Payphone's at nine-seven" "Thanks, Doll." ""Pedestrian struck.Send a bus." Sounds like cop talk." "How does a copon the Upper East Sideknow about an accidentdowntown?" "Unless he's the onewho ran her over." "Å©¸®½º ¸á·Î´Ï (¿¤¸®¾ù ½ºÅ×ÀÌºí·¯ Çü"ç æµ)" "¸¶¸®½ºÄ" ÇÏ±âÅ×ÀÌ (¿Ã¸®ºñ¾Æ º¥½¼ Çü"ç æµ)" "¸®Â÷µå º§Àú (Á¸ ¸ÕÄ¡ Çü"ç æµ)" "´ÙÀÌ¾È ´Ò (ÄÉÀÌ½Ã ³ë¹Ú °Ë"ç æµ) ¾ÆÀÌ½º-Æ¼ (¿À´ÙÇÉ ÇÉ Æ©Æ©¿Ã¶ó Çü"ç æµ)" "B.D. ¿Õ (ÀÇ"ç Á¶Áö È² æµ)" "´í ÇÃ·Î·º (µ· Å©·¹ÀÌ°Ç °æ°¨ æµ)" "Law  Order SVU 6x14" "ORIGINAL AIR DATE ON NBC: 0000/00/00" "That's our Jane Doe." "Rape exam found fluids." "M.E.'s running the DNA" "Anything off the canvass?" "No, that area's prettyisolated at night." "She was hit below the knee, so we figureit was a sports car." "Any forensics?" "Black paint fragments.Lab's analyzing." "So... here is our crime scene." "And here's the payphonewhere the 911 call was made." "Now, the 2-7is the closest precinct, but they had no mobileor foot patrolsanywhere near that phone." " CSU's dusting for prints." " Maybe our guy was off duty." "I'll check with personnelfor a list of copswith black sports cars." "The body is coveredwith deep bruisesand puncture wounds." "He beats the crap out of herand then stabs herwith somethinglike a screwdriver." "Either he was on PCP,or this is personal." "Stabler. / You want to go public,Captain?" "If nothing pans out,we may have to." "When does your homicidecourse start?" "Ah, two hours ago. / Get going." "Fin, you run thiswith Eliot." "Captain?" " Crime lab's got somethingon the payphone." "CRIME LAB ONE PILICE PLAZA MONDAY JANUARY 24" "Hundreds of printsall over the phone box" "Normally takes days to check, but our callermade the job easier." "Handset's beenwiped clean." "Fits our theorythe guy's a cop." "He tried to get ridof the evidence." "Except he screwed up." "He cleaned the phone, but he lefta perfect index printon the disconnect button." "Which gave usa ten-point match to a member of the NYPD." "Tony Nasreddin, NYPD." "Temporarily assigned tothe Joint Terrorism Task Force." "Her guy knowswhat happened last night, but Lieutenant Moore'shiding him behindsome national security crap." "My guy doesn'tknow anything." "He made the 911 call." "He broke cover and everyrule in the bookto make that call." "The Feds find out,and they'll have his detail." "You said he broke cover." "You were doing surveillance." " I can't say" " But he saw what happened?" " He didn't see anything." " So he must've heardsomething." "Believe me, I'm sorryabout your victim, but I've gotta lookat the big picture." "Take a look at ours." "That woman was run over, raped, beaten." "Please, just let ustalk to Nasreddin." "He's all we've got." "All right, I'll help you." "But this cannot go publicor be used at trial." "Agreed?" "Agreed." "152 EAST 88TH STREET MONDAY, JANUARY 24" "We're running surveillanceon a crooked Filipinobusinessman who wires fundsto charities in the Far Eastwho are knownto supportterrorist groups." "Tony Nasreddin, Lori Anglin:" "Detectives Stabler and Tutuola." "What's this Filipino guygot to do with our case?" "We've tappedall his phones." "Caught him havinga conversationwith one of his... employees." "Hey, where've you been?" "Took longer than I thought." "I had a little problemi had to straighten out." "I'm on Broome and Wooster." "You got anything close?" "Client in Chelsea.Want the address?" "All right, but hurry up, 'cause I'm absolutely freezing." " She's a hooker." " Our perp must have takenher cell phone too." "Melody?" "It's 374 21st Street" "Hello?" "Melody?" "Melody?" "That's a pretty name." "Like music." "Who's this?" "Where is she?" "She can't come to the phoneright now" "Now she wants to play with us." "That's it." "I knew somethinghad gone bad." "I had to call it in." "Whoa, her pimp's cold." "Hears one of his girlsget taken outand doesn't do squat." "We want his nameand a copy of that tape." "His name's Eddie Shaw." "Hold on!" "We want to talk to youabout one of your girls." " I don't have girls.Import - export only." " You runninga prostitution service." " No." "Companionship only." "My ladies are very intelligent, very respectable." "This lady's dead.Who is she?" "Never seen her before. / Okay." "What do you say I call Vice, the IRS, and Immigration,they come down hereand beat up on your ass?" " Okay, okay" "I'll tell you.She's Melody Quinn" "She was Melody Quinn." "She working last night?" "Escort only.No sexual services." " We need a client list." " That's confidential." "Okay, you know?" "Fine." "You're gonna rot in jailuntil you rememb." "Okay." " She have a boyfriend?" " No." "She was studying." "Uh, wanted to be a brokering Wall Street." "Here. 8:30 p.m. First client was Mr. Prasad.Mr. Prasad!" "Mr. Prasad!" "Were you screwingthis woman last night?" "She visited my apartment." "We need you to providea DNA sample." "As long as youdon't tell my wife." "She was out of townlast night, and I gave in to temptationjust once." "Really?" "The agency says you wereone of Melody's regulars." " You got a car?" " I don't have to answer that." "I hired Melodyfor a dinner date." "We didn't have sex." "You know,I didn't break the law." "And you can't provethat I did." "She's dead." "You were the last manwith her, so your DNA's gonna beall over her." "It might even proveyou murdered her." "Okay, okay.We had sex." "But she was alivewhen she left, I swear." "What kind of caryou drive?" "Lincoln Navigator." "None of Melody's clients hadaccess to a black sports car." "The fact thatshe's a hookerexplains the fluidsin the rape kit." " You think she wasn't raped?" " Hard to proveeither way." "Cast the net wider,all her Johns." "Her parents are coming infrom Detroit to ID the body.Talk to them too." " What about the JTTF tape?" " TARU's still working on it." "Oh, Kathy dropped him offabout five minutes ago." " Said she couldn't wait." " Dickie's staying with mefor a few nights." "Say, kiddo!" " Stop looking at that stuff." " Is that woman dead?" "Yes, she is." "How'd she die?" "She was hit by a car." " An accident?" " No.The car drove up on the sidewalk." "Did they take her money?" "Yeah, they did.Let's get something to eat." "I bet theybeat her up too." " Why would you say that?" " It's just like the game,0isn't it?" " What game?" " NtenCity." "Cap, Fin, have you ever heardof a game called NtenCity?" "I'm driving along, okay?" "I see a woman, so..." "I run her over." " Where did you learn this?" " Everyone plays it." " I get out of the car." " "Hey, baby, where you goin'?"" "Now, to get her money, I have to knock her out." "Make sure shecan't fight back." ""Where do you thinkyou're goin', bitch?"" "Got her.Now I gotta get the purse." ""I said stay down!"" ""Yeah." "Gimme that!" "Got me some more cheddar."" "Look, my money supplyjust went up." "They got the ideafrom the game." "Remember the voiceon the tape?" ""She can't come to the phoneright now." "She wants to playwith us."" "Somebody's playingfor real." "of psychologists think there's a correlationbetween violent crimes and media violence,especially games." "Do you believe that?" "I can think of a dozen murders in which computer gameswere alleged to have influenced the killers." "Columbine'sthe obvious example." " Do you have any suspects?" " No, we checked out family, friends, and clients." "Everybody has alibis." "So she could have beena random target." "That's an awful lot of rageto take outon someone you don't know." "Unless the computer gamecontributed to the rage." "You got any pointersto help us find our player?" "Your average gamer'sprobably male, anywhere from 10to 50 years old." "Thanks, Doc. / And if he'san NtenCity junkie, he might want to bragabout what he's done." "Who makes this crap?" "THKTOP GAMES 143 BROADWAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 25" "Yeah, I designed NtenCity.What's up?" "Someone went outand imitated it." "Not again.We got lawsuitscoming out of our asses." "Every month some moronblames us for some crimesome other moroncommitted." "You don't seemtoo concerned." "Our games are cartoons." "They're fun." "If a couple of idiotstake them too far, that's not our problem." "Well, it is now." "This woman was run downtwo nights agoand beaten to death" ",just like in the game. / Jeez lighten up,will ya?" "That sequencewas an Easter Egg." "A what?" " That's a hidden treat players can access for extra fun." "You're not as old as you look." "Come here." "So you're playing the game,okay?" "And you see somethinganomalous." "Maybe a glow on the wall,a doorway." "You go throughand you get something extra." "A weapon, money, maybe another cool sequence." "Who knows aboutthe Easter Eggs?" "Everybody." "You go online andthe fan sites will tell youwhere the Easter Eggsare hidden." "On these fan sites, anybody talking about a womanbeing attacked?" " We're about to launch NtenCity 2." "I don't have time to go trolling on fan sites." "I do." "Move over." "That was Stabler." "You stay and play. / All right." "Cause of death wasa subdural hematoma" ",but she sufferedbefore she died." "There were 42 points of impacton her chest, back,arms, and head." "Guy's fistsmust be chopped meat." "I doubt it." "These bruises were causedby a man's shoe,kicking and stomping." "Probably a size nine." " What about the puncture wounds?" " They were a puzzle." "I had to cut the wounds outso I could dissect them." "This is your weapon." "Not my normal work gear, but it's the annualM.E.'s dinner tonight." "Stiletto heels?" "A woman stomped Melody?" "Was there another woman's voiceon that task force tape?" "She can't cometo the phone right now." "Now she wants to playwith us." "That's a guy's voice." "But if I filterthe background noiseand EQ the vocal spectrum, we get this." "She wants to play with us. / Her jacket." " Dig her jacket." " Dig her jacket." "That's a female's voice." " And they killed her for her clothes?" " No, they were playing a game" "Munch has got something." "All right.Thanks" "Some geek wrote a new scenein the gameyou can downloadoff the net." "It first appearedlate last night." "Here it is." "Okay, same old same old.You run her over, get out, kick hera couple of times, and then..." "Watch this.Here's the new scene." "He tears her blouse off.Cool, huh?" "The detail aboutripping her clothes offwas never released." "Son of a bitch knewexactly what happened." "So, which one of you guysmade this?" "It can only be one person, a programmer named Stu Davis." " Why only him?" " Well, Stu used to work here." "I had to fire him 'cause he snuckcopulating bunny rabbits into a children's game we make." "But we kept him onas a tester." " So he knows how to modify the game?" " Oh, yeah." "Where's Stu live?" "APARTMENT OF STUART DAVIS 132 RIVINGTON STREET TUESDAY, JANUARY 25" "?" "Somebody dropped a little sequee about herinto NtenCity." "Wasn't me. / We hear you're the only guy that could do it." "Well, you heard wrong." "Stuart Davis,this is a warrantto search your apartmentand computers." "Ow!" "Damn!" " Out of my way." "You know,if you guys just tell mewhat you're looking for,I'll help." " Yeah, help erase it." " Uh, here's something." "Email sent yesterday morning." " Hey, you know what?" "That's my private stuff!" "You're not supposed to look / Shut up!" ""Spielmeister, wanna make NtenCity real Ntense?" "Check out The Ledger page seven."" "Will ya look at this?" "And it's turned right to page seven." ""Mystery Woman Killed in Hit and Run"." "Listen to this." ""Cops held back chick was half naked How about a game update."L-M-A-O." "L-M-A-O?" " Shorthand:" "Laughing My Ass Off." " That's funny." " Who sent you the email?" " I have no idea, okay?" "I get requests from goofballs every day." "You always do what goofballs ask?" "If they pay well enough, yeah." " Got an email address?" " Just a screen name:" "Lewddude." "Can you track it?" "Larry Tauber, Police!" "Nobody's here." "Here's a picture of Lewddude." "All right.Get that out there." " El, maybe the guy couldn't stop playing." " Yeah, or partying" "A woman's purse." "It's Melody Quinn's driver's license." "Genius really knows how to cover his tracks" "He didn't go too far." "Genius forgot his car keys." "Little black sports car." "Registered to Larry Tauber." "Blood and skin.We'll test it.Unit six?" " O'Halloran. / SVU there?" " Yeah, they're here." "Tell them we got their guy.Spring and ten." "They found your guy.Ten blocks away." "Heard the call go out." "It's your guy." "ID was in his pocket." "Looks like he was run over, then beaten to death." "Larry Tauber." "Someone's playing the game again." "and multiple fractures, but Larry Tauber wasn't murdered." "Suicide." "He sustained one blow to the headfrom a sharp metal object" "CSU found blood and brain matteron the edge of the dumpster" "Remember that scaffolding?" "He must've jumped off of it and hit the dumpster." "Any evidence he was pushed?" "Not from the trajectory of the fall and there were no defensivewounds or torn clothes" "But his blood alcohol levelwas four times the legal limit." "Killed himself out of drunken remorse." "What he did to that girl, I'm not shedding any tears." "DNA proves his car ran her down, but I don't think he killed her." "His feet are size 11." "Shoes that kicked Melodyto death were size 9" "So he goes ten blocks to kill himself." "What's wrong with his own roof?" "I can't answer that, but I can tell youwhat he was doing before he jumped" "See the glitter on his pants?" "Known in the trade as booty dust." "Larry had himself one last lap dancebefore he took the plunge." "Well the only strip clubs around that alleyare by the West Side Highway." " Yeah, I know." "Can you believe it?" " Police." "Ladies, can we get a minute?" "That all you need, honey?" "Either one of you recognize him?" "Yeah, I do.He was here last night." "Remember the sad dude?" "He was literally crying in his beer." "His friend tried to cheer him upwith a couple bottles of Dom." "His friend?" " Good-looking kid." "Too young to be at the club, but guess his ID was okay" " You got security cameras?" " Yeah, but they're like the plumbing, don't work." " Did you hear anything these guys were talking about?" " Not really." "Younger one even paid for me to give sad eyes a lap dance, but it was like raising the dead, if you know what I mean?" "Okay, we're gonna need you ladies to come downto the precinct and talk to a sketch artist." " How many people do you put at the crime scene?" " Maybe three." "Unidentified male,unidentified female, and Larry Tauber." "Now, we got two possibilities." "Either Tauber made the kids take part" " Why do you say they're kids?" " The voices sounded young. 18, 19." "Tauber's nearly 30." "So he led them into the crime, and then killed himself out of guilt Or, he's the patsy." "Kids used him.His apartment, his computer,his car." "Maybe used him to buy drugs, alcohol." " Can you prove any of that?" " Look,Tauber left Melody's purse in plain sight." "He didn't even bother to fix his car?" "It's like he wanted to get caught." "But he's dead,so he can't tell us." "But the car can." "The crime lab ran tests on it." "The driver's side door gives off a weird metallic creakthat's audible on the task force tape." "They tracked each set of footsteps." "They're 95% certain that the guy that got out the driver's dooris the same one that picked up Melody's phone and talked on the tape." "His voice wasn't Tauber's." "They're also pretty sure that only two peoplegot out of that car" "And the second one was wearing high heels." "So Tauber just stayed in his car?" "And did nothing while a helpless woman was brutally murdered." "I'm sorry, but "95% certain" and "pretty sure"don't add up to beyond a reasonable doubt." "Look.If these kids were using Tauber, somebody must have seen them together." "As soon as the pole dancers are done, canvass Tauber's neighbors." "Try this first." "Day after the murder," "Tauber received 12 callsfrom a cell phone belonging to one Louise Karnaki." "17 years old." "Larry's a loser." " I don't hang with himanymore." " Then why call him so often?" "Dunno." " See how he's doing?" " Not too good.He's dead." "Oh, my God... poor Larry." " Where were you three nights ago?" " At home." " Can you prove it?" " Why should she?" "Hey,Louise.I'm Elliot." "Nice boots.Very sharp." "They're mine.How'd you get 'em?" "Something called a search warrant." "What is this?" "Turn on the lights." "Let me domy magic trick." "Now, Louise,this is a lumalight." "What it does is show up blood and skin fragments,like, for example... if there just happened to be some on your boot here." " Will you look at that?" " I don't know what that is." "It's blood." "There's some on the toe also." "Now what we're gonna do is compare the DNA on this bootto that woman's DNA." "And when they match,which they will, we'll be charging you with murder." "You gotta help me." "I wanna talk to the ADA." "Mr. Delroy?" "If my client cooperates, what are you offering?" " Nothing." "She's a murderer." "Now if she tells uswhat happened," "I might ask the judge to take it into account during sentencing." "Did you attack that woman?" "Yes. / Who else was there with you?" "Larry Tauber. / And who else?" "Nobody." "Not even him?" "Give us a name." "Please don't tell him I told you." "Name." "Garrett Perle." "Police!" " It's open." " Hey, guys,what's going on?" " Police.Stand up." "Sure, just a sec." "Bastards deleting files!" "Temper, temper." "Garret Perle, you're under arrest for murder." " Get that computer." " Be my guest,there's nothing on it" " Anyway, whom am I meant to have murdered?" " Melody Quinn." " Doesn't ring a bell." " You have the right to remain silent." "You give up that right. / Stop!" "He's got a degaussing loop." " What the hell is that?" " Powerful magnetic strips." "We just wiped his hard drive." "This is Melody Quinn.Remember her now?" "I'm sorry, but I don't." "First you ran her down,then you kicked her." "42 times." "Awful." "That's a Marine tattoo,isn't it?" "Have you ever killed anyone?" "You have, I can tell." "You too.Were you a gang banger before you became a cop?" "I've often wondered whatt would be like to kill someone." "So how was it?" "I've murdered people in games, hundreds of them." "I've blown their heads off, eviscerated them." "I've even used a little kitty cat as a silencer." "But it's not real, you know?" "You don't get the bam!" "The kick the juice." "But you guys you know." "You know." "And you don't?" "You don't." "Because you're gutless." "You couldn't even face her, could you?" "You had to use a car to knock down a woman?" "Even then, you couldn't face her." "You had to sneak up behind her as she was crawling away, and then you kicked her?" "You're nothing but a scared little punk." "You wanna know what it's like to kill someone, huh?" "And you gotta stare 'em right in the eyeso you can smell their fear." "Leave me alone,okay?" "Stop it." "We don't even need this little freak" " We've got our witness." " She's lying." "How do you know that?" " It was Larry Tauber." " Doesn't sound like Tauber." " Melody?" " That's a pretty name." "Like music." "Who's this?" "Where is she?" "She can't come to the phone right now." "Now she wants to play with us." " Where did you get that?" " That's enough for a positive voice ID." "You're done, Garrett." "But it's Larry's fault." "He made me do it." "Out you go, gentlemen." "I'd like to speak to my client alone." " With Louise's eye - witness testimony, Gates will try and cut a deal." " So what are you gonna do?" " I may offer Louise Man one to make sure she gives us this creep." "Oliver, how will yoube earning your fee this time?" "Easily." "Not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect." " You gotta be kidding me." " Garrett was enthralled with an older man," "Larry Tauber,who plied him with alcohol, got him to play violent video games for hours on end." "And then took him on a joyrideand made him play the game for real." "So Garrett admits he killed Melody" "No, he admits that he had no idea what he was doing, whether it was wrong or right, fantasy or reality." "See you at the arraignment." " Gates thinks this defense will fly?" " Computer game violence is a hot issue" "If Gates can deflect blame onto the game makers,his job's half done." " Make a deal with Louise Karnaki" " Don't get your hopes up." "Her family just fired her public defender, got a lawyer from Henshall and Langan." " How can they afford that?" " They can't,but Garrett's family can." "They'll pin the crime on the gameand the dead man,Larry Tauber." "Cap, it's the lab for you." "What about the surveillance tape?" "What surveillance tape?" "The Joint Terrorism Task Forcewas running a covert opon Melody's boss." "They caught the start of the murder on audio tape." "Including Garrett and Louise's voices." "And they sure weren't confusing fantasy with reality" "I need to hear that Task Force tape." "We got it on conditionwe wouldn't use it at trial." " You agreed to that?" " I didn't have a choice." "Well, neither do Iif it's my only evidence of Garrett's state of mind, so where is it?" "Somebody from the U.S. Attorney's Officeremoved it from the lab 20 minutes ago." "UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS' OFFICE IFFICE OF RAUL MENENDEZ THURSDAY, JANUARY 27" "You can't have it." "As soon as that tape appears in discovery, the defense will want to know context," " provenance, everything." " It won't affect any ongoing operation." "I can't risk surveillance of a vital targetand the war against terror becoming front page news." " That's more important than letting two psychopaths walk free?" "Frankly, yes." "If this tape's your only evidence, you should ask the NYPD to get off their asses and find you some more." "I met your vital target." "This guy's no terrorist,he's a sleazy joke." "I need the tape, Raul." "I said you can't have the tapebecause there is no tape." "We've got no tape and no deal with Louise." "I'm gonna be fighting this with my arms tied behind my back." "Forensics prove Garrett and Louise kicked a woman to death." " They can't wiggle out of that." " Gates is running a psych defense." "He's gonna blame everything on the game and Larry Tauber." "And the only way to beat it is to prove they knew what they were doing." "One way to beat a psych defense is with a psych offense." "Let me find out if Garrett and Louise are innocent pawnsor cold-blooded liars." " How many hours a day do you play games?" " Five or six." "What's the longest that you've ever played?" "Eighteen hours. / You get tired?" " I never noticed." " Do you stop to eat or drink?" "Don't feel the need." " How do you feel after you're finished playing?" " Like I'm King of the World." "Then what do you do?" "Play again.What else?" "Larry mind you hanging around so much?" " Mind?" "We were the best thing that ever happened to him." "Larry like to watch her beat up women." " In the game or on the street?" " Wherever." "Turned him on.It was the nearest he got to screwing her." "Louise got offon it too." "Garrett made metease him." " You didn't like that?" " I wasn't interested in Larry." " You and Garrett have sex?" " Yes." "He's crazy about me" " Yeah,but the game is better" " Better than sex." "And the rush is more intense." "See, I control the world, pull everyone's strings." "In the game, of course." " When else do you feel the rush?" " Driving fast" "How fast?" "120 miles an hour on the BQE at 2:00 in the morning." " That's pretty dangerous." " That's why it's a rush." "What about the other drivers?" "They get out of the way." "What if they can't?" "Oops." "He's a manipulative little prick." "He took Larry Tauber to that club, he got him drunk, and manipulated him right off that roof." "I wouldn't put it past him." "Garrett's an adrenaline junkie and a narcissist." "He knows right from wrong." "He just doesn't give a damn" " And Louise?" " She's in love withim." "She'll do whatever he wants." "Do you think these computer games influenced his behavior?" "Kids like Garrett are so numb that they need constant stimulation." "Computer games fill that void." "If they're susceptible to violence, then this could exacerbate that, but..." "I don't believe a game ever made anyone commit murder." "So Garrett's psych defense is a crock." "Yes." "His mind is clear as a bell." "Hah, thought I'd find you in here, Casey." "Motion to submit Garrett for a neuropsych examination." "Garrett has volunteered to undergo a PET scanwhile he plays the computer game NtenCity." "An experiment with a single subject is meaningless." "We'll repeat an experiment conducted by doctors in London that showedthat game play flooded the brain with dopamine." "What's that supposed to prove?" "That dopamine intoxication caused by addictive game playingchanged Garrett's brain, and therefore,he wasn't responsible for his actions." "Are you worried about objectivity, Casey?" "Because Dr. Huang is welcome to conduct the test." "MERCY GENERAL HOSPITAL NEURORADIOLOGY DEPARTMENT FRIDAY, JANUARY 28" "The computer relays the game into these 3D gogglesso that" "Mr. Perle can play the game while he's in the scanner.Cool." "Can I get a pair of these?" "His head's immobilized so that head movement doesn't distort the scan." "We'll inject him with carbon 11 raclopride to tagthe dopamine receptors." "And then we'll draw blood throughout the scanto measure how game play affects the dopamine release in his brain." "You can start." "Garrett plays these games up to 40 hours a week." "It's amazing he found the time to commit murder." "Let me know when you have the results." "No question." "Garrett's dopamine level increased while he played the game." "What effect did that have on him?" "He felt high... euphoric, as if he'd just taken a small dose of speed." "So the PET scan does prove game play made Garrett Perleless" " able to control his actions?" " On the contrary, almost any enjoyable activity would show the same increase in dopamine." "Driving a fast car, playing sports, even playing chess." "Thank you, Doctor." "Isn't the release of dopamine what makes a drug like cocaineso addictive?" "Partly. / And heroin so addictive?" "Dopamine contributes to addictive behavior, but" "And doesn't the PET scanhow that computer games are just as addictive?" "As addictive as heroin or cocaine?" "No." "But they are addictive" "Do you believe that violent video games are dangerous?" "Not in themselves, no." "But didn't a Dr. David Grossman compare violent gamesto military battlefield simulators, where they train real soldiers kill?" "It's much more complicated than that. / Why?" "A violent video game teaches its players to kill automatically.Yes or no?" "Yes. / Thank you." "But there's an enormousdifferencebetween the cartoon violenceof video gamesand violence in real life." "So do you think that Garrett and Louise would have gone outjoyriding that night if they hadn't have played the game?" " There are other factors" " Did the game give them the idea to get in the car?" "Yes, but / Did the game give themthe idea to run overMelody Quinn and beat herto death, yes or no?" " Yes, but having" " Thank you, Dr. Huang." "Nothing further." "Do you regret what you've done?" "Yes." "I'll never forgive myself." "Do you want to take a break, Mr. Perle?" "No, I can manage, thank you." "You've testified that you and Louise ran over Melody" "Quinnbecause you thought you were still playing a game." "Yes." "Nothing seemed real." "So even when Melody was screaming and crying for mercy, you thought it was part of the game?" " They scream in the game too." " But you kicked her to death." "You expect the jury to believe that you didn't knowa real woman was bleeding and dying under your feet?" "I swear to you, I didn't." "How could you not know?" "Because I didn't know where I was." "The streets we were driving down were streets from the game." "The people were characters from the game." "I saw this woman on the sidewalk, and she had a short skirt." "Larry said, "Get her." "Get the hooker."" "It was like I was still in his apartment." "And he's breathing down my neck, shouting at me,"Go on, hit her!" "Hit her, do it!" ""She's getting away!" "She's still moving!" "Stomp on her!" "Do it!" "Do it!" / Mr. Perle." "Mr. Perle, control yourself." "So you always do whatever Larry says?" "I wish I was brave enough tostand up to him, but I wasn't." "I'm sorry." "Do you want to continue with this witness, Miss Novak?" "I do, your honor." "It's late.You can resume tomorrow." "This court is adjourned." "I hope you've got something.I'm getting killed here" "We got a connection between Garrett and Tauber's deathon Tauber's computer" "TARU found a big chunk of encrypted codeon his hard drive, sent to him two hoursbefore he killed himself." "Who sent it?" "Same creep that added the naked victim sequence to the game, Stu Davis." "We're holding him in the crime lab." "Now, Stu, you sent Larry Tauber a self-deleting email." "We found it on his computer." "He opened it,he read it once, and, poof,it disappeared" "But only as far as his hard drive." "So you're gonna tell us what it says." "Listen, all right, I've got nothing to do with this." "Yeah, you do.Because the guy you sent the email to is now dead." "Eventually he'll break the encryption, and when he does," "I will arrest you for conspiracy to murder." "Stu, start decrypting." "Start!" "God, he said it was just a joke." "This is ridiculous, man, I'm a programmer,not a killer." "I swear to God,I never knew anyonewas gonna get hurt." "You killed her, Larry." "You kicked that poor woman to death." "Cops are coming for you,Larry." "You can run, Larry Tauber,but you can't hide." "Lights, please." "So whose face is that on the screen?" "Larry Tauber's." "People's exhibit 11" "A check for $1,000 made out to..." " Stuart Davis." " And whose signature is that?" "Mine." "You paid Mr. Davis $1,000 to send that email to Larry Tauber." "Why?" "I don't know." "You don't know?" "No." "Larry got that email two hours before he killed himself." "Did you want to push him over the edge?" "No. / Then why would you send it,huh?" "Did the game make you do that too?" "No. / Then why?" "It was a joke." "First you say kicking a woman to death is a game,and now this is a joke?" "Do you think this is funny?" "You're confusing me." "You weren't confused." "You knew exactly what you were doing" "You were afraid Larry was going to turn you into the Police." "So you preyed on him until he killed himself.Larry Tauber, murderer." "LMAO." "What does that mean, LMAO?" "Why don't you tell us?" " Laughing my ass off." " What I'm sorry,I can't hear you." "Laughing my ass off." "Larry's dead, Melody's dead, and you're laughing your ass off?" "Yeah, you bet I am." "'Cause you are a joke." "This whole damn thing is a joke." "Nothing further." ""Video game violence has a horrifying potential to promote acts of violenceagainst real victims and desensitize children to the real thing."" "That's what the American Medical Association had to say in their testimony to Congress." "Now, does the games industry care?" "Listen to them describe their latest hit." ""You can still beat up the hookers and steal their money." "You can run over cops and shoot and kill the ambulance driversas they come in to pick up the dead."" "Now, you take that attitude and that product and you put it in the handsof a young man who has a history of addictive and risk-taking behavior, and you are going to create a tragedy." "And that is what happened here." "The game NtenCity transported two teenagersto a fantasy land." "It made them high." "It fed them a vile idea, and then it taught them how to execute it." "They were not in control of their actions." "And, therefore,they're not guilty" "Did Garrett and Louise get the idea from a game?" "Yes." "But we get ideas all the time." "From books, from TV,f rom friends." "From life, from everywhere." "We don't act on them." "We know that the idea doesn't justify the deed." "Don't let Mr. Gatesblind you to the facts" "Real people ran over a real person." "And then they beat her to death." "Melody Quinn felt real pain." "She bled real blood." "And she died a horrible and lonely death." "It was not a game." "Now, did Melody's killers know what they were doing?" "Well, their taunting of Larry Tauber, the one member of their trio with the humanityto feel regret, proves that they did." "Garret Perle said it himself,it was a joke." "Well, you know what?" "Murder is no joke." "So don't let them use a game as an excusefor their cruel and callous actions." "As to the defendant Garret Perle, the charge of murder in the second degree, how do you find?" "We find the defendant guilty" "As to the defendant Louise Karnaki on the chargeof murder in the second degree, how do you find?" "We find the defendant guilty." "Defendants are remanded until sentencing." "This court is adjourned." "Aw, shut up." " Bang bang,you're dead." " Get him out of here." "Game's over." "You won." "We won the case today." "Two guilty verdicts." "That's good." " What are you playing?" " Hockey." "Got him." "What a hit!" "Do you have to play that all the time?" "Why not?" "I like it." "I know, but maybe we can playsomething together, you know?" "Like what?" "I don't know, um... cards, Scrabble?" "Or maybe we can just talk." "Okay Talk."