The Latest: Shooting victims to appeal after theatre cleared

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – The Latest on a lawsuit against the owner of a Colorado movie theatre where 12 were killed (all times local):

12:55 p.m.

Lawyers for victims of the Colorado theatre shooting plan to appeal a verdict clearing the theatre owner of wrongdoing in the 2012 attack.

Attorney Marc Bern called Thursday’s decision another blow for victims and said Cinemark failed to do a number of things that could have prevented the shooting that killed 12.

Cinemark attorney Kevin Taylor said he sympathizes with the victims but that justice was done when gunman James Holmes was convicted last year. He said the only thing that matched the unpredictability of the massacre was the tragedy of it.

Victims and jurors left the courthouse in suburban Denver without commenting.

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11:40 a.m.

A jury has found the owner of a Colorado movie theatre is not liable for a 2012 shooting that left 12 dead after victims argued that lax security allowed for the rampage.

The six jurors concluded Thursday that Cinemark, the nation’s third-largest movie theatre chain, couldn’t have prevented James Holmes’ meticulously planned attack.

Several survivors and families of the dead had sued the suburban Denver theatre, saying it lacked armed guards during the crowded midnight premiere of a Batman movie. There also was no silent alarm that would have sounded when Holmes slipped into an auditorium and started shooting.

They say Cinemark should have foreseen the possibility of violence at the summer blockbuster.

Cinemark attorneys said guards weren’t needed at a theatre with no history of serious violence.

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11:25 a.m.

Jurors have reached a verdict in the civil trial over whether the owner of a Colorado movie theatre should have done more to prevent a 2012 shooting that left 12 people dead.

The jury deliberated for about 3 hours before reaching their decision Thursday morning. The verdict is scheduled to be announced at 11:30 a.m.

Jurors were asked to determine whether Cinemark should have foreseen the risk of violence during the packed midnight premiere of a Batman movie in an era of mass shootings.

The victims say lax security by the nation’s third-largest movie theatre chain allowed for the rampage. The company says it couldn’t have predicted an attack from a gunman as heavily armed as James Holmes.

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9:05 a.m.

Jurors are deliberating in a civil trial over whether the owner of a Colorado movie theatre should have done more to prevent a 2012 shooting that left 12 people dead.

The jury met for a short time after getting the case Wednesday evening and reconvened Thursday. Jurors must determine whether Cinemark should have foreseen the risk for violence during the packed midnight premiere of a Batman movie in an era of mass shootings.

They also will decide whether the nation’s third-largest movie theatre chain failed to take precautions that would have thwarted the attack that also injured more than 70 people.

The victims say Cinemark’s lax security allowed for the rampage. But the company says it couldn’t have predicted an attack from a gunman as heavily armed as James Holmes.