Colorado Shootings: 1st Dark Knight Lawsuit Filed
The first lawsuit from the Colorado shooting has been filed by an uninjured man.
Torrance Brown says he was at the "Dark Knight Rises" premiere when suspect James Holmes went on his shooting spree. Brown avoided injuries, but says that his best friend, A.J. Boik, was shot in the chest and was one of the 12 victims who died.
Brown is suing the movie theater, the doctors of James Holmes, and the film studio that produced the movie, reports The Christian Post.
As we wrote earlier, Century Theaters will likely be the recipient of many personal injury lawsuits. In Brown's case, he claims the theater was negligent for having an emergency door that was not equipped with an alarm. Brown claims that this allowed Holmes to exit the theater after purchasing the ticket and reenter with this cache of weapons. Expect to see similar claims in other lawsuits.
Brown's other two claims are perhaps more novel. First, Brown sued Holmes' doctors claiming that they did not carefully monitor the medication that he was on. The argument is that the doctors should have foreseen Holmes' violent tendencies and made sure he was not skipping his medication. It's not clear what specific drugs Holmes was on or what mental issues he had.
Also, Brown names Warner Bros. in his lawsuit, the film studio behind the "Dark Knight Rises." Brown claims that the Colorado shootings were reminiscent of the violence from some of the movie scenes in the previous "Dark Knight" movies, perhaps providing Holmes with a blueprint for his own crime.
Related Resources:
- Warner Bros. among those named in first 'Dark Knight Rises' massacre lawsuit (Examiner)
- Proving Fault: What is Negligence? (FindLaw)
- 'Dark Knight' Shooting in CO: 12 Dead, 50 Hurt (FindLaw's Blotter)
- Virginia Tech Victims' Families Win $8M in Wrongful Death Lawsuit (FindLaw's Decided)