Attorneys for Cinemark have dropped their request that victims of a 2012 shooting at a Colorado movie theater pay almost $700,000 in legal fees after they unsuccessfully sued the theater chain.
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More than two dozen surviving victims and relatives of those killed sued Cinemark USA Inc in state court, accusing the company of lax security measures that made the theater chain partially responsible for the bloodshed.
Cinemark’s legal team filed a “bill of costs” for $699,187.13 in early June in Arapahoe County District Court for fees associated with a lawsuit filed by survivors of those murdered that was eventually won by the theater chain.
Gunman James Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to criminal charges stemming from the shooting.
Holmes was sentenced to life in prison last August when a jury could not reach a unanimous decision on whether to condemn him to death.
The company said in making the request it had spent almost $700,000 for expert witnesses and on other costs associated with defending itself at trial. Today, the remaining four holdouts also agreed not to appeal, and Cinemark dropped the claim for legal fees.
Cinemark’s lawyers said in court documents they wanted to resolve the matter without more costs to either side.
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“All plaintiffs in this matter have now waived appeal of the jury’s verdict and the case can now be deemed completely over”. This past May, a judge sided with Cinemark against the victims, claiming that the chain had no way of knowing about the shooter beforehand, and Cinemark was then legally able to recoup costs from the victims, which it fixed at $700,000.
