James Egan Holmes: Colorado Shooting Victims Sue Aurora Movie Theater

By Staff Reporter | Sep 08, 2012 01:55 PM EDT

The victims and family of the Aurora movie theatre shootout which resulted in the death of 12 and left 59 others severely injured when James Egan Holmes allegedly opened fire at a midnight screen of the Dark Knight Rises are filing a class action suit against the movie house.

The case is taken on the New York Based law firm that represented 9/11 families. The victims and families are supposedly suing the Cinemark Theater for lax security during the screening of the highly anticipated Batman movie.

Currently, the alleged shooter Holmes is being held in a detention facility of Arapahoe County in solitary confinement. He is being charged with 12 counts of murder and 116 of attempted murder.

The 24-year-old has not yet made any plea, however given the course of the case, it is likely that he will plea insanity or mental incompetency.

Defense Daniel King has objected to prosecutors' bid for a gag order to get access to Holmes academic records. "They are fishing around to establish a motive. ... The motive is irrelevant...Nothing in those documents will reveal any intent," as reported by the Christian Monitor.

Prosecutors claim that Holmes apparently showed a number of worrisome signs many months prior to the Aurora movie theatre shootout. Prosecutors are arguing that Holmes' deteriorating grades and growing unhappiness as a student might reveal insight into the motive behind the massacre.

Pearson argues that the release of school records, including transcripts, but not medical reports are "All of this is relevant to his decision to withdraw from school, booby-trap his apartment and buy ammunition...What's going on in the defendant's life at the time is extremely relevant to this case," as reported by the Huffington Post. Pearson was insinuating that Holmes was becoming increasing disgruntled with the school, which likely caused him to snap.

On July 20, at a midnight screening of the cult-inducing Dark Knight Rises film at a movie house in Aurora, Colorado, Holmes, opened fire killing 12 people and injuring 59 others. He was arrested that morning and placed in custody.

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