DENVER — A Denver jury last week awarded $3.76 million in damages to a 78-year-old grandmother whose home was raided by Denver Police SWAT in 2022 in an operation that hinged almost entirely on Apple tracking software.
The jury awarded Ruby Johnson $1.26 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages after concluding the officers acted with willful and wanton disregard of Johnson's constitutional right from unreasonable search and seizure, according to the ACLU of Colorado, which brought the lawsuit on Johnson's behalf.
The raid happened Jan. 4, 2022, in a case of a vehicle that was stolen the day before from a downtown Denver hotel parking garage. The owner kept guns in locked cases in the vehicle. Police executed a warrant on Johnson's Montbello home based on the Find My iPhone pings of an old phone that was left in the stolen vehicle, and they didn't find the stolen vehicle, guns or cash.
Attorneys working in cooperation with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLU) of Colorado filed a lawsuit in December 2022 that claimed the SWAT warrant was a violation of Johnson's constitutional rights. The lawsuit named Denver Police Detective Gary Staab and Sgt. Gregory Buschy, in their official capacity as officers, as defendants.
The lawsuit came in response to a months-long 9NEWS investigation that documented Johnson’s ongoing trauma related to the warrant. Most of the complaint focused on how police did not find anything at Johnson’s home.
"This is a small step toward justice for Ms. Johnson, but it is a critical case under our state's Constitution, for the first time affirming that police can be held accountable for invading someone's home without probable cause," said Tim Macdonald, legal director for ACLU of Colorado, in a news release.
The jury in this case concluded that the warrant that authorized the search of Johnson's home wasn't supported by probable cause, the ACLU said.
"Though the outcome of this trial will not fully undo the harm of that fateful day, it puts us one step closer to justice for her and others who have found their lives turned upside down because of police misconduct," said Deborah Richardson, executive director of ACLU of Colorado.
The Denver Police Department said in a statement they are declining to comment on the verdict and are continuing to look into the incident.
> Watch the full 9NEWS investigation below:
When the lawsuit was filed, Denver Police spokesman Jay Casillas wrote in an email that the Department of Public Safety and Denver Police "sincerely apologize" for any "negative impacts" the search may have had.
Casillas wrote that Police Chief Ron Thomas ordered an internal investigation into the warrant. Thomas was working with the Denver District Attorney’s Office to create training for officers and members of the district attorney's office to improve the process for seeking warrants based on phone applications.
A spokesperson for the Denver District Attorney's Office said in a statement when the lawsuit was filed that they had signed off on the warrant because they believed there was enough for the search based on the facts provided by Denver Police.
Mark Silverstein, ACLU legal director, said in December 2022 that Staab's “bare bones” warrant should have never “sailed through” the system so easily.
Body camera video obtained by 9NEWS shows Johnson appearing confused and weary, approaching officers outside in a black robe and bonnet with her glasses on her forehead. She looks around, uncertain about what's going to happen.
As officers searched her home, Johnson was waiting in the back of a nearby police car. She said the experience was traumatizing and led her to feel unsafe in the home she lived in for about 40 years.
> Watch a portion of body camera footage obtained in a records request and edited by 9NEWS.
This story includes previous reporting by Angeline McCall and Zack Newman.
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