DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that data from a Google search warrant, used to arrest three teens in connection with the Green Valley Ranch house fire that killed a family of five in 2020, is be admissible.
The majority found that "law enforcement obtained and executed the warrant in good faith and the evidence shouldn't be suppressed under exclusionary rule," according to the opinion issued by the court.
Justice William Hood III delivered the opinion of the court with Chief Justice Brian Boatright, as well as Justices Richard Gabriel and Melissa Hart. Justice Maria Berkenkotter concurred in the judgment, and Justices Monica Marquez and Carlos Samour Jr. dissented.
Last November, Denver District Court Judge Martin Egelhoff upheld the legality of the warrant, which used a Google reverse-keyword search to identify the three teens as suspects in the arson. An attorney for Gavin Seymour, one of the teens charged in the arson case who is now 18, argued against the legality of the search warrant.
>Video above is a 9NEWS report from August about bond being set for Gavin Seymour.
Seymour and another defendant, Kevin Bui, are charged as adults and face premeditated murder charges and dozens of other counts in connection with the fatal fire. The third suspect, 15 years old at the time of the fire, is being prosecuted as a juvenile.
The suspects are accused of taking part in setting fire to a Green Valley Ranch home in the early morning hours on Aug. 5, 2020. Five members of a family were killed in the fire. The suspects were arrested in January 2021.
The victims were: Djibril Diol, 29; Djibril's wife, Adja, 23; the couple's 2-year-old daughter Khadija; Djibril's sister, Hassan, 25, and Hassan's 6-month-old daughter, Hawa Beye.
After the state Supreme Court ruling, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann released the following statement:
“I am very pleased with the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, which will allow for the continued prosecution of the defendants accused of killing five innocent people in August of 2020. The court recognized that police officers exercised good faith in obtaining the warrant that led to the identification of the suspects. We agree with that part of the court's opinion and will now move forward with our cases. I want to thank the lawyers in my office whose hard work and thoughtful presentation resulted in today’s opinion.”
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