‘Slap in the face’: Four Batman massacre victims left to foot near $1 million legal bill

Four moviegoers who were injured when an armed man entered their Colorado cinema and opened fire have been left with a near $1 million legal bill.

The group had tried to sue movie cinema company Cinemark for damages after James Holmes went on a gun rampage at the screening of Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, killing 12 people and injuring 70 more.

But a judge found in favour of the cinema, finding it was not liable for the injuries suffered at the complex. The decision left the four to foot the entire $930,000 legal bill.

The Los Angeles Times reports 41 survivors in the shooting massacre had joined the original federal lawsuit in Colorado, blaming Cinemark’s lack of security for Holmes’ destruction.

Attorneys for the cinema had presented a settlement offer of just $200,000 to be split between all victims lodged on the case.

Described by some victims as “a slap in the face,” 40 of the 41 victims agreed to the settlement and decided to split the money on an injury scale.

The Los Angeles Times reported the survivors thought “something was better than nothing” after an earlier State lawsuit also failed.

Survivor Marcus Weaver, who was shot in the shoulder and lost a friend in the shooting, told The Los Angeles Times the Cinemark offer came with an implied threat – that a loss would leave the survivors open to an astronomical court fee.

But one person, who has not been identified, refused the settlement offer and sent the case to a judge decision the following day.

Overnight, 37 of the survivors pulled out of the lawsuit, fearing a loss.

The next day, a judge found in favour of Cinemark, which paid five experts a combined $665,000 to testify and is included in the four survivors’ bill.

Holmes was sentenced to life in prison with parole, after being spared the death penalty over the attack.