TOLEDO (AP) -- A jury has rejected a $1 billion lawsuit filed by a woman who claims her business reputation was damaged when deputies walked through her office.

Nancy Mitchell filed court documents in 2003. In the lawsuit, she claimed the Tama County sheriff's officers trespassed when they passed through her real estate office to get to the law office of her son, Allan Richards.

Records show deputies wanted to search Richards' office to look for a gun with its serial numbers filed off. The officers were unable to find Richards to get permission for the search, so they gained access through the basement and an adjoining hardware store, which has a common door.

By the time the search ended, the hardware store was closed and that door was not longer accessible. Deputies determined the only way to leave the building was through Mitchell's office, court records indicate.

Mitchell claimed in her lawsuit deputies forced open doors, moved items in her office and "scurried the property." Deputies claimed they only walked through.

A lawyer for the deputies said "law enforcement officers executing a search warrant have a statutory right to break out of the premises searched to secure their own freedom."

A jury on Feb. 24 decided the deputies did not trespass and did not search Mitchell's office.

A similar lawsuit filed by Richards is pending.