Mass shootingAurora movie theater owner seeks $700,000 from families of mass shooting victims
A Colorado jury ruled that Cinemark was not responsible for the 2012 massacre in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, in which twelve people were killed and seventy injured – and now Cinemax, the owner of the movie theater, is demanding that the families of the victims of the mass shooting pay $699, 187.13 to cover the company’s legal costs defending itself.
Survivor of the Aurora movie theater massacre // Source: theconversation.com
A Colorado jury ruled that Cinemark was not responsible for the 2012 massacre in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, in which twelve people were killed and seventy injured – and now Cinemax, the owner of the movie theater, is demanding that the families of the victims of the mass shooting pay $699, 187.13 to cover the company’s legal costs defending itself.
In the original lawsuit, the victims’ families argued that the theater chain should have provided more security to prevent the shooting from taking place. On 24 June, a jury found Cinemark not liable.
The Denver Post reports that following the Not Guilty verdict, Cinemark has filed a “bill of costs” against the victims’ families, requesting $699,187.13. Under Colorado law, winners of civil cases are allowed to recover the costs of litigation.
“The Court concludes that a reasonable jury could not plausibly find that Cinemark’s actions or inactions were a substantial factor in causing this tragedy,” U.S. District Judge R. Brook Jackson wrote in his ruling last month.
Sandy Phillips, a mother of one of the moviegoers who were killed in the shooting, on Friday tweeted her response to the lawsuit.
“Please boycott Cinemark,” Phillips said on Twitter. “Don’t add to their $194 million profit while they come after Aurora victims who have lost everything.”
Lawyers for the victims’ families are now considering whether to appeal to the case. Legal experts note that in most cases, “bill of costs” requests are dropped when no appeal is filed.
