June 12 (UPI) — The Supreme Court brought back a lawsuit against the FBI over a mishandled home raid from 2017 in Atlanta on Thursday.
A unanimous decision moved the case over an incident in which federal agents broke through the door of Trina Martin’s home with a search warrant at the wrong address, back to a lower court to look at it again to see if the lawsuit can move forward.
Martin sued the government for assault and battery, false arrest and other violations, after the FBI entered her home, where she lived with her then-boyfriend Toi Cliatt and 7-year-old son Gabe Watson, believing it was the home of an alleged violent gang member.
The suit alleged that agents entered the home with their guns drawn and set of a flash bang that startled the family and caused Gabe to scream.
The Supreme Court ruled that a federal judge in Atlanta and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were wrong to dismiss the suit, ordering them to determine whether the discretionary-function exception of the Federal Tort Claims Act in 2019, under which the suit was filed, would allow the case to go forward.
The justices did not answer the question, but allowed the plaintiffs to argue it in the lower courts.
“It is work enough for the day to answer the questions we took this case to resolve, clear away the two faulty assumptions on which that court has relied in the past and redirect it to the proper inquiry,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote.
“We readily acknowledge that different lower courts have taken different views of the discretionary function exception,” Gorsuch continued.”We acknowledge, too, that important questions surround whether and under what circumstances that exception may ever foreclose a suit like this one.”
During the raid Martin’s former boyfriend was handcuffed and she wanted to go to her son. She wasn’t allowed to move and the 7-year-old woke up to see agents with guns in his room.
After the agents realized their mistake they left the house and their supervisor came back to apologize.
The FBI had an arrest warrant out for Joseph Riley. After they left Martin’s house, FBI raided Riley’s house and arrested him.
Pattrick Jaicomo, Martin’s lawyer in a statement said the court was right to revive the Martin family’s case
“The Court’s decision today acknowledged how far the circuit courts have strayed from the purpose of the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is to ensure remedies to the victims of federal harms-intentional and negligent alike,” he said. “We look forward to continuing this fight with the Martins in the Eleventh Circuit and making it easier for everyday people to hold the government accountable for its mistaken and intentional violations of individual rights.”