Colorado verdict likely deters strict security at the movies

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A verdict saying a Colorado movie theater could not have safeguarded against a shooting that left 12 people dead likely prevented a major shift in how people go to the movies by keeping the onus on the killer, rather than the public venue he chose to attack.

Six jurors concluded Thursday that Cinemark was not liable for the 2012 rampage, quickly rejecting victims’ arguments that, in an age of mass shootings, the theater should have foreseen the possibility of violence at a crowded midnight premiere of a Batman film.

Several survivors and families of the dead had sued the nation’s third-largest theater chain, saying the suburban Denver theater should have had armed guards at the summer blockbuster.

There also was no silent alarm that would have sounded when James Holmes slipped into an auditorium and started shooting.

The civil case was watched closely by theater security consultants, some of whom predicted that a verdict against Cinemark would mean sweeping and costly changes to the way theaters protect customers. Some experts said a loss could have forced theater companies across the country to use metal detectors or hire more security, hiking up ticket prices to offset the cost.

Jurors erased that possibility, deliberating for about three hours before siding with Cinemark.