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Columbine-related Lawsuits

The tragedy at Columbine High School spawned a large number of lawsuits against the parents of the gunmen, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, and the Jefferson County School District, among other entities. These and other legal filings can be found at https://law.justia.com

To view the summaries of some of these cases, either Click the Link or Download the accompanying Word document. 

Nancy Bodelson, the Jefferson County Coroner, and several families of the deceased victims of the Columbine shooting, sued the Denver Publishing Company (Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post) to prevent release of the autopsy records of those murdered on April 20, 1999. 

https://www.ritagleason.com/bodelson-v-denver-pub-co

The families of murder victims Daniel Rohrbough, Kelly Fleming, Matt Kechter, Lauren Townsend, Kyle Velasquez, and Cassie Bernall sued the following entities for responsibility in those deaths:

Jefferson County Sheriff's Department including Stone, Dunaway, Manwaring, Walcher, Hy, Kieckbusch, Gardner, Major, Smoker, Taborsky, Searle, and Walker; as well as the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Jefferson, the Klebolds, the Harris', Duran, Anderson, and Hartmann.

https://www.ritagleason.com/rohrbough-et-al

Columbine shooting victim, Richard Castaldo, filed suit against the following:

Jefferson County Sheriff's Department including Stone, Beckham, Gardner, Hicks, Miller, Williams, Guerra, and Lebeda. The suit also names the Jefferson County School District, including DeAngelis, Cornell, Horvath, Butts, Talocco, Kelly, Tonelli, and Johnson, as well as the Klebolds, Duran, Anderson, Washington, Hartmann, Tanner, and Kirgis. 

https://www.ritagleason.com/castaldo-lawsuit

The families of murder victims, Kelly Fleming and Daniel Rohrbough, sued the Jefferson County School District and DeStefano over a tile project conducted by the school but funded with private donations. They claimed the school violated their Freedom of Speech by prohibiting them from using names, religious imagery, and the date of the attack on their tiles.

https://www.ritagleason.com/fleming-et-al

Patrick Ireland sued the following for responsibility for his injuries:

Board of County Commissioners of the County of Jefferson, Jefferson County Sheriff's Department including Stone, Beckham, Gardner, Healy, Hicks, Miller, Williams, Guerra, Lebeda, Dunaway, Manwaring, Walcher, and Kiekbusch. Also included in the suit were The Jefferson County School District, Cornell, Tanner, Hartmann, and Washington 

https://www.ritagleason.com/ireland-v

A lawsuit brought by victim, Kacey Ruegsegger, against the Jefferson County School District, including specific individuals DeAngelis, Horvath, Butts, Talocco, Kelly, Tonelli, and Johnson.

https://www.ritagleason.com/ruegsegger-v-school-district

Kacey Ruegsegger filed suit against the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners as bearing some responsibility for her injuries. The suit included JeffCo employees and former employees: Stone, Beckam, Garnder, Magor, Smoker, Taborsky, Searle, Walker, Hicks, Miller, Williams, Guerra, and Lebeda.

https://www.ritagleason.com/ruegsegger-v-jeffco-cty

Angela Sanders, daughter of slain teacher, Dave Sanders, sued the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Jefferson for responsibility in her father's death. Included in the suit were: Stone, Manwaring, Kiekbusch, Walcher, and Dunaway.

https://www.ritagleason.com/sanders-v-jeffco-cty

The family of Dave Sanders, and lawyer, John DeCamp, on behalf of all Columbine victims living and deceased, sued Acclaim Entertainment alleging that exposure to violent video games and film content influenced the massacre perpertrated by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

https://www.ritagleason.com/sanders-v-acclaim

The families of Valeen Schnurr, Evan Todd, and Jeanna and Kathy Park brought a lawsuit against the Board of  County Commissioners of Jefferson County, including Stone, Gardner, Magor. Smoker, Taborsky, Searle, and Walker. 

https://www.ritagleason.com/schnurr-et-al-v-jeffco-cty

Appeal to protest the destruction of deposition transcripts and court reporter notes from Rohrbough v Harris and Taylor v Solvay. 

https://www.ritagleason.com/depositions-lawsuit

Case summary of the contested settlement between the family of Isaiah Shoel's and the parents of Columbine gunmen, Harris and Klebold.

https://www.ritagleason.com/shoels-settlement

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