Taylor Anderson Lawyer Who Won Dismissal of Batman Theater Shooting
Case Says Mass Shootings at Businesses are Unpreventable
Addressing the Orlando mass shooting in which 49 were killed and 53 injured, the lead lawyer who won dismissal of the remaining lawsuit by victims of the Batman movie theater massacre says that although businesses can take numerous steps to keep their patrons safe, it is unreasonable to expect them to prevent incidents of mass violence on their premises.
Kevin Taylor, managing partner of the Denver-based law firm Taylor Anderson LLP (www.talawfirm.com), believes that the types of security measures argued as necessary for businesses to take “in a post-9/11 world" by lawyers for the victims of the Aurora theater shootings would do little to prevent future attacks.
"Relinquishing purses and passing through airport-style metal detectors will only promote a perpetual state of fear, “ Taylor said, adding that “Extreme security measures like that may also create a false sense of security, for even businesses with security guards and extensive safety protocols are vulnerable to attacks.”
Taylor said “For example, the nightclub employed a 15-year Orlando Police Department veteran as a security guard, and yet, was still unable to anticipate the shooting or prevent the deaths of dozens of its patrons."
Nearly four years after James Holmes opened fire in the Century 16 multiplex in Aurora killing 12 and injuring
70 others, United States District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson on June 24 granted summary judgment dismissing the remaining case against Cinemark Holdings, Inc. without prejudice (Case No. 12-cv-02517-RBJ- MEH, Nowlan, et al., v. Cinemark Holdings, Inc., et al., United States District Court for the District of Colorado). In his order the judge wrote, "The Court concludes that a reasonable jury could not plausibly find that Cinemark’s actions or inactions were a substantial factor in causing this tragedy."
Jackson’s dismissal of the Cinemark litigation was preceded by a similar outcome in Colorado state court (Case
No. 2012 CV 1926, Soudani, et al., v. Century Theatres, Inc., et al., Arapahoe County District Court), in which a jury of six concluded that the movie theater chain, defended by Taylor and his partner, attorney Kyle Seedorf, could not have anticipated or prevented the shooting.
"These tragedies are completely unforeseeable and unpredictable. In Aurora, once he became committed to his murderous and secret plan, James Holmes was unstoppable,” said Taylor, who has tried more than 100 cases to verdict, many of them involving catastrophic personal injury and death. “In Colorado, first a jury and then a federal judge agreed no business could have anticipated or prepared for Holmes' horrific plan.”