A New Mexico appeals court has rejected a lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games and Sony Corporation of America regarding a triple murder carried out by Cody Posey in July 2004. Posey was 14 years old at the time and had allegedly been severely abused.

The original case against the three companies claimed that they should have foreseen that GTA: Vice City would "would spawn such copycat violence". It stated that Posey played GTA VC,"obsessively" and it trained him to kill his father, stepmother and stepsister.

The case was brought in December 2007 and rejected because neither Sony nor Take-Two had offices in New Mexico and because it failed to provide a legal basis to a claim for wrongful death.

At the time of the original trial, the case for the video game having a murderous effect on Posey was somewhat weakened by more salient evidence indicating motive. CourtTV reported at the time that, "Many of Cody's teachers, classmates and fellow ranch hands from his home in Hondo served as defence witnesses and corroborated claims that the Poseys abused their son with shovels, lariats, rocks, a hay hook and other implements of ranch life, as well as fists and demeaning words."

According to the La Cruces Sun-News, "Posey was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his 13-year-old stepsister; second-degree murder in the death of his stepmother and voluntary manslaughter in the death of his father."

The recent rejection was based on the fact that the appeal had not been filed on time - leaving scope for it to be taken to a higher court.

^{Sources:
CourtTV
Las Cruces Sun-News}