Now, as the Los Angeles Times reports, a federal judge has supported the request and ordered four of the survivors to pay Cinemark – the third largest movie theater company in the USA – more than $700,000. Almost 400 people had poured in to the Cinemark’s Century 16 theatre for a midnight viewing of The Dark Knight Rises. Survivors of the attack and family members of the dead said they wanted to press Cinemark on whether they could have prevented the attack with better security, thus setting a higher standard for movie theaters across the United States. Four of them refused.
Advertisement
A judge ordered those four to pay $700,000 to theater chain for legal bills.
Weaver also said he had been approached by a federal magistrate judge who likened the failed case to the slow pace of the civil rights movement.
Cinemark’s offer, the Times reported, was $150,000 to be split among 41 plaintiffs, with the three most critically injured to each receive $30,000. “(The settlement) was a slap in the face. Now, they were finally prepared to settle with the movie theatre that became the site of one of the deadliest massacres in United States history.
The Aurora, Colorado, shooting victims said they are disappointed with the judge’s decision in their class-action lawsuit.
The deal came with an implied threat: If the survivors rejected the deal, moved forward with their case and lost, under Colorado law they would be responsible for the astronomical court fees accumulated by Cinemark.
“Either seek justice and go into debt, or take that pitiful offering of money and the improved public safety”, he said. Thirty-seven plaintiffs then withdrew themselves from the case.
Had the victims won the case, theater companies would have been forced to change security measures to prevent future mass shootings.
“A blind guy in a dark alley could have seen [the state verdict] coming”, Weaver’s attorney, Phil Hardman, said. So did 36 other people.
Cinemark asked for the money from the victims after it was found to not be liable. I did get him six or seven good one …
Advertisement
James Holmes, the shooter, was convicted in 2014 and will spend the rest of his life in prison. “It’s nearly like everything was for naught”, he told reporters.
