Like it did with the first round of lawsuits, the theater chain has quickly responded to the most recent legal actions against it for the July 20 shooting at its Aurora, Colo, cinema. Late last week, Cinemark filed motions (read two of them here and here) to dismiss the October 11 civil complaints from parents of victims of the midnight The Dark Knight Rises screening shooting. The exhibitor seeks to have the claims dismissed because each one “fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted as a matter of law,” arguing that what happened was not its fault. “It would be patently unfair, and legally unsound, to impose on Cinemark, a private business in the entertainment industry, the duty and burden to have foreseen and prevented the criminal equivalent of a meteor falling from the sky,” said Cinemark’s lawyers in their October 18 motions. The shootings by alleged gunman James Holmes left 12 dead and 58 wounded.

The company filed almost exactly the same motion last week for all of the four wrongful-death lawsuits it received October 11. Cinemark also filed similar new dismissals October 18 to the amended first round of suits from victims that were delivered September 21. The company had first responded on September 27 to lawsuits from audience members Denise Traynom, Brandon Axelrod and Joshua Nowlan, who argued that the chain had failed to provide adequate security at the theater. Cinemark is represented by Kevin Taylor, Kyle Seedorf, John Roche, Amanda Wiley of the Denver firm Taylor|Anderson.

Related:  
Cinemark Won’t Address Aurora Questions And Its Fallout
Christian Bale Visits Aurora Theater Shooting Victims

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