Cinemark has dropped its pursuit of $700,000 owed to the company by four victims of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado movie theater massacre, effectively putting an end to a contentious years-long legal battle.
In a court filing Tuesday, Cinemark — the country’s third-largest movie theater chain — said it had reached a deal with the four plaintiffs in the case in which it would not seek the $700,000 in legal costs owed it by the plaintiffs in exchange for an agreement from the plaintiffs not to pursue appeals of the case, according to Deadline.
The plaintiffs — all victims of the July 2012 attack in which gunman James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 more at the Aurora Century 16 theater during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises — had been ordered by a judge to pay Cinemark’s legal fees after the theater chain was found not to be liable for the attack in a verdict delivered earlier this year.
More than three dozen victims had sued the theater chain, alleging it did not have proper security in place to prevent the attack.
“All plaintiffs in this matter have now waived appeal of the jury’s verdict and the case can now be deemed completely over,” Cinemark attorneys wrote in a filing in Colorado state court on Tuesday, according to Deadline. “Defendants’ goal has always been to resolve this matter fully and completely without an award of costs of any kind to any party.”
In May, Cinemark offered a $150,000 settlement to the 41 plaintiffs involved in the suit, and the judge overseeing the case urged them to accept it. However, one victim who lost a child and became paralyzed as a result of the attack reportedly refused to accept, and four plaintiffs ultimately remained on when the judge found Cinemark not liable for the attack.
Colorado state law allows defendants in civil cases to recoup legal fees after winning.
Gunman James Holmes was convicted on 24 counts of murder and 140 counts of attempted murder in July 2015 and later sentenced to 12 consecutive life terms plus more than 3,000 years in jail.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.