Arguments begin in theater shooting civil trial

Opening statements are underway in a lawsuit alleging the owner of the Colorado movie theater where James Holmes killed 12 people should have done more to prevent the attack.

Attorneys are making their arguments Tuesday morning in suburban Denver to jurors who will hear testimony in the civil case against Cinemark. They will be asked to decide whether, in an age of mass shootings, the company should have foreseen the 2012 shooting that also injured more than 70 people.

Cinemark says it couldn’t have predicted or prevented the attack.

Twenty-eight victims and their families are suing the theater company, saying Cinemark should have had silent alarms and armed guards at the packed midnight premiere of a Batman film.

Holmes was sentenced last year to life in prison.