The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents barged into the house of an Atlanta family in the middle of the night eight years ago. The problem was they targeted the "wrong house". And now, the Supreme Court has approved the family's lawsuit against the government.
In 2017, two Atlanta residents, Hilliard Toi Cliatt and Curtrina Martin, were held at gunpoint during a pre-dawn raid of the wrong residence.
A six-member SWAT squad, believing they were going to target a gang member's house, destroyed Mr Martin's front door with a battering ram, set off a flash-bang grenade, and barged into their suburban Atlanta home, CNN reported.
Although the federal government is usually immune from lawsuits, Congress has made an exception for certain circumstances in which government personnel have committed wrongdoing or negligence.
But that legislation was amended in 1974 after several more high-profile raids at the wrong houses to allow citizens to sue federal law enforcement officials.
FBI officers invaded Martin and Cliatt's house for a maximum of five minutes. The loud, dramatic entrance accompanied by a stun grenade led them to believe that criminals were attacking them.
The case, filed by Cliatt and his then-partner, Martin, against the United States in federal court in Georgia had been initially dismissed by lower courts.
But the country's top court unanimously ruled that the federal appeals court in Atlanta applied the wrong legal standard in its decision in favour of the government. The case was then sent to the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit for further consideration.
According to court documents, agents aimed their firearms at the couple, shackled Cliatt, and hauled him out of a bedroom closet. Martin begged the agents to allow her to see her little son Gabe, who was sleeping in the next room.
The lead FBI agent, Lawrence Guerra, reportedly realised his mistake and cancelled the raid after Cliatt gave his address in answer to an agent's question. The agent took Cliatt out of handcuffs and agreed to return shortly to explain what had happened.
The agents assumed suspected gang members were hiding out at 3741 Landau Lane, so they planned to carry out the raid. But FBI special agent Guerra eventually found the Martin-Cliatt residence at 3756 Denville Trace using his personal GPS.
Guerra expressed regret and provided documentation of the property damage, which was subsequently reimbursed by insurance. He further delighted the pair by giving Cliatt a business card with his supervisor's details, per The Washington Post.
