Thompson withdraws from Grand Theft Auto lawsuit

Anti-videogames campaigner Jack Thompson has withdrawn from the Grand Theft Auto lawsuit filed against retailers and publishers following accusations that he violated legal ethics.

"The other side wants to make me the issue," Thompson told US website GamePolitics.

"The important thing is that the clients be served."

Thompson had been representing the families of two police officers and a dispatcher murdered by an 18 year old who he claimed was "trained" to kill by GTA. He recently appeared in court to defend his right to practice law after attorneys from Blank Rome, the firm representing the defendants in the case, filed a motion to have his license revoked.

Thompson dismissed suggestions that he had taken the decision to withdraw following pressure from Judge James Moore.

"It was my idea," he said, affirming that the suit would continue despite his withdrawal. There are three other lawyers working on the case, Thompson said, including his long time colleague Ray Reiser.

"I got [Reiser] to the edge of the Promised Land. We'll see if he goes in," he added.

Judge Moore has yet to announce his decision on the second motion filed by the defendants, which argues that the entire suit should be dismissed since the First Amendment's freedom of speech provisions apply to videogames.