11th Circuit lets Georgia family sue FBI agent over wrongful raid
An 11th Circuit panel ruled Wednesday that Agent Lawrence Guerra may be sued over a 2017 SWAT raid on the wrong Atlanta-area home, reversing his qualified immunity even as it shielded the federal government itself under sovereign immunity. Guerra's team broke down the door at 5 a.m., set off a flash-bang, and held Hilliard Toi Cliatt, Curtrina Martin, and her 7-year-old son at gunpoint before an officer noticed mail showing they had the wrong address.
The judges noted the actual target home was three houses away, across the street, at a clearly marked intersection with a different street name entirely. They also flagged that Guerra discarded the personal GPS he later blamed for the error, failed to upload required site-survey photos, and is missing cell phone data from the day in question.
The panel, made up of two Obama appointees and one Biden appointee, let the family's claims against Guerra proceed while closing off their path against the United States itself, since none of the Federal Tort Claims Act's 13 exceptions applied. Judge Jordan wrote separately that he hopes the full court will eventually revisit how broadly that discretionary-function shield gets applied to botched warrant executions.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.