3 Families Want Columbine Suits Separated

DENVER -- A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a request by the families of six Columbine High School victims to reconsider his dismissal of their lawsuits.

The judge said the request was rejected on proceedural grounds. A lawyer said the request would be resubmitted.

The families of three students seriously wounded in the Columbine rampage want their lawsuits separated from the others so they can pursue claims a federal judge says have merit.

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Babcock rejected the request because it did not follow proper procedures but left the door open for the families to resubmit it. Barry Arrington, a lawyer representing five of the six families, said the request would be refiled soon.

The lawsuits by the three families were among those dismissed Nov. 27 by U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock. He consolidated those cases and certified them for appeal, expediting the process for the families.

While throwing out their cases, Babcock said one of the claims by the relatives of students Valeen Schnurr, Evan Todd and Jeanna and Kathy Park was legally sound. The claim is similar to the one in the lone lawsuit allowed to proceed, which was filed by Dave Sanders' family. Babcock said that the families' claim that the victims should have received medical care sooner was sound.

Lawyer Jay Horowitz said the families want their cases separated from the others so they can pursue the claim without losing their right to appeal a decision later.

"Once you appeal, you're often foreclosed from continuing to pursue something at the trial court level," Horowitz said. He said the families could press their claims if Babcock agrees to separate their suits from the others.

Only the lawsuit by the family of teacher Dave Sanders was given approval to go to trial. His family claims authorities are liable for his death because they knew he was seriously wounded, but rescuers didn't reach him until 3 1/2 hours after they knew the gunmen were dead.

The lawsuits by the Schnurrs, Todds and Parks make similar arguments. Valeen Schnurr was shot 15 times, and doctors weren't sure she would survive.

After she escaped the school, Schnurr was shifted between three different police cars and then handed over to civilians driving a golf cart before someone realized the seriousness of her wounds, according to the lawsuit.

"Arguably, her life was in danger by the time she got to the hospital," Horowitz said.

Lawyers also contend Jeanna Park's injuries were aggravated by a delay in medical care.

Babcock dismissed claims that law enforcement and school officials should have done more to prevent the rampage and that the Jefferson County sheriff's office botched the response to the April 20, 1999, massacre. He said authorities were protected from lawsuits under state governmental immunity laws, which gives them leeway in performing their jobs without having to face lawsuits.

Some of the families have asked the judge to reconsider his decision.

Students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris unleashed the attack at Columbine High School in suburban Jefferson County. They fatally shot Sanders and 12 students and wounded 23 others before killing themselves in the library.