Mayfield opens probe into his arrest
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 7:44 AM PDT
By Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articlePORTLAND -- For three months, the FBI made Brandon Mayfield's life an open book.
They scoured the former Army officer's phone records, watched him drive to a nearby Mosque, staked out his law office and allegedly entered his family home for a quick search while he was away.
Now Mayfield wants to return the favor.
His attorneys have filed papers with a federal judge in Portland to initiate two investigations into the FBI's probe, which began days after terrorists set off a series of bombs in Spain on March 11, killing 191 people and wounding 2,000.
One line of inquiry explores how the FBI erroneously linked Mayfield's fingerprint to the bombings, the other why government officials leaked information about Mayfield's arrest to the media.
His attorneys say they want a thorough airing of the FBI's internal forensic work and behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get the story out in the national press.
They also want an answer to whether their client's Muslim beliefs biased FBI investigators.
"I think we all as citizens of this country need an answer to that question," said Mayfield's attorney, federal public defender Steven Wax. "And we need an answer from an independent entity."
FBI Agent in Charge in Oregon Robert Jordan said the agency will conduct an internal review of its fingerprint analysis process. On Monday, Jordan apologized to the Mayfield family. He said the FBI will invite an international panel of experts to review its handling of the Mayfield case.
U.S. Attorney in Oregon Karin Immergut said a computer fingerprint match initiated the case against Mayfield, and denied he was targeted because he is a Muslim.
Mayfield and his lawyers don't see it that way, noting that the affidavit for his arrest warrant included such details as his occasional attendance at a local mosque.
Wax said U.S. District Judge Robert Jones is expected to hold a hearing on the investigations later this week. Wax said he is seeking power to subpoena FBI officials and documents.
Wax and co-counsel Chris Schatz say their efforts will focus on whether FBI fingerprint examiners were influenced by political pressures or bias after they received a list of 15 or so possible matches from a computer.
"Who knows how many people are sitting in state and federal prisons that have just never come to light because there is no independent agency like the Spanish National Police," Schatz said.
"Worse would be if the whole process had been tainted by the FBI saying 'Ah ha, this guy who is number four or five on the list is a Muslim."'
Mayfield has won one important victory already.
Jones has ordered the FBI and Justice Department to preserve all evidence of how it handled the fingerprint for a possible future investigation into the error.
"This is a very, very, unusual case," Wax said.
Several questions are key to understanding a mistake that landed an innocent attorney in jail for two weeks for a terror bombing on the other side of the world, he said.
Among them are how the FBI and Spanish National Police provided contradictory information about the print -- twice.
First, the two law enforcement agencies disagreed over whether the fingerprint was Mayfield's, and again when the FBI said this week that the partial print was useless for identification while Spanish authorities linked it to an Algerian man now suspect in the bombings.
Of particular interest to Mayfield's attorneys is what occurred at an April 21 meeting between FBI and Spanish National Police fingerprint examiners. The FBI asserted it convinced skeptical Spanish authorities at that meeting that the fingerprint was Mayfield's.
It is not clear why the FBI did not heed their cautions, and continued with an arrest of Mayfield three weeks later, Wax said.
"It makes no sense," Wax said.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories