Cinemark, the company that owns the Aurora movie theater where 12 people were murdered and 70 people were wounded four years ago, has dropped a request for victims of the shooting to pay nearly $700,000 in legal costs after an unsuccessful lawsuit.
The move — along with several others this month — means that all the civil lawsuits against Cinemark as a result of the shooting are close to being resolved.
In a filing in state court Tuesday, Cinemark’s lawyers wrote that the company’s goal “has always been to resolve this matter fully and completely without an award of costs of any kind to any party.”
After the shooting, dozens of victims filed suit against Cinemark, alleging that security flaws at the Aurora theater helped enable the attack. The lawsuits were consolidated into two cases, one in state court and one in federal court, with different groups of victims as plaintiffs. Both cases were eventually decided in favor of Cinemark, which argued that the shooting was an unforeseeable tragedy.
Because the winning side in a civil lawsuit is allowed to recover its legal costs from the losing side, Cinemark initially asked that the victims in the state court case pay it nearly $700,000. The victims objected to the amount, and no final judge’s order on the costs was ever issued.
But, in a court notice filed in Arapahoe County District Court on Tuesday, Cinemark said it is withdrawing its bill of costs in the state case. The notice was filed after the company reached an agreement with the remaining four victims still pursuing the suit, who Tuesday dropped their appeal.
“The case can now be deemed completely over,” attorneys for Cinemark wrote in the filing.
That leaves just the federal case against Cinemark — which is also being appealed. But, this month, judges have granted motions to dismiss several plaintiffs from the federal lawsuit and its appeal, all with the agreement that Cinemark won’t pursue an award of legal costs.
There are now only two victims of the shooting — Stefan Moton and Ashley Moser, both of whom were paralyzed in the attack — still battling with the company in federal court. Cinemark has until Sept. 20 to say whether it wants them to pay the company’s legal costs.
