[News] 2 articles - Spain told FBI prints were not Mayfield's

Wed May 26 16:40:05 EDT 2004

Spanish police: We told the FBI the fingerprints weren't Mayfield's
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2001939067&zsection_id=268448413&slug=webmayfield26&date=20040526
By Mar Roman
The Associated Press

MADRID, Spain  Spanish police told the FBI all along that they doubted the 
fingerprints on a plastic bag containing detonators like those used in the 
Madrid train bombing belonged to the Oregon lawyer wrongly arrested in the 
case, an official said today.

The prints of a thumb and finger were only partial and ill-defined because 
the bag was plastic, the police official said in a phone interview, 
speaking on condition his name not be used.

Spanish police found only several points of coincidence between 
Portland-area attorney Brandon Mayfield's fingerprints and those on the 
bag, the official said, adding there should be at least 12 such similarities.

Suspected Islamic terrorists set off 10 backpacks of explosives in four 
commuter trains the morning of March 11 in or near downtown Madrid, killing 
191 passengers or bystanders and injuring more than 2,000.

Fingerprints were found on a plastic bag that was in a van left near the 
Alcala de Henares train station, from where three of the four bombed trains 
had departed.

The fingerprints were sent to Interpol, and Spanish police reportedly met 
FBI agents in Madrid on April 21. The latter were convinced the print was 
Mayfield's. The Spaniards weren't.

On May 6, Mayfield, 37, was arrested as a material witness in the bombings. 
He always said he was innocent.

Last Thursday, Spanish forensics police disclosed they finally made their 
own match: an Algerian identified as Ouhnane Daoud. Within hours, Mayfield 
was released from jail and the FBI subsequently apologized.

Spanish police said the plastic bag never left Spain and that a digital 
copy was sent to Paris-based Interpol.

The official also noted today that police told the FBI there was no record 
of Mayfield having been in Spain recently.

Transcripts detail objections, early signs of flaws

http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/front_page/1085573028161310.xml
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
LES ZAITZ

Just hours after his arrest, Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield adamantly 
told a federal judge that the fingerprint evidence against him was wrong, 
and he objected to news leaks that already were damaging his name, 
according to transcripts of closed-door court hearings released to The 
Oregonian.

Mayfield was arrested May 6 as a material witness when the FBI linked him 
to a fingerprint found on a bag of detonators near the explosions in 
Madrid, Spain, that killed more than 190 people in March.

"That's not my fingerprint, your honor," Mayfield told U.S. District Judge 
Robert Jones in Portland. "If it is, I don't know how it got there. It is 
not my fingerprint."

The transcripts provide a rare glimpse into two weeks of secret court 
hearings involving Mayfield's detention as a material witness. He was 
released last week, and the case was dismissed Monday when the FBI conceded 
it was mistaken in saying the fingerprint belonged to Mayfield. Jones 
ordered court records unsealed Monday.

The transcripts show Jones carefully explained the proceedings to Mayfield, 
even providing him with a 32-page court ruling in another case that 
explained material witness situations. He also tried to push a resolution 
to get Mayfield out of jail in a matter of days, according to the transcripts.

The transcripts also show that Mayfield spoke politely but firmly to the 
judge about his arrest and the government's circumstantial case against 
him, outlined in a nine-page federal affidavit.

"I have a problem with this affidavit," Mayfield told the judge. "I looked 
at it. I assume you have looked at it. We are talking about a fingerprint 
that was provided by the . . . Spanish police. That was a photograph of a 
latent print on this alleged bag. I have never seen this bag."

Mayfield pointed out that the affidavit revealed that Spanish officials in 
mid-April were questioning the FBI identification.

"There was some conflict about their matching fingerprint," Mayfield said.

Jones acknowledged that the fingerprint evidence still needed to be proved 
but that the initial identification required him to keep Mayfield in custody.

"Gravity of the matter"

"Because of the gravity of the matter . . . if that is his fingerprint with 
the 200-plus dead people and 1,500 injured and the potential call on the 
witness to Spain, I'm not going to release this material witness until the 
testimony is complete," Jones said.

The transcripts show Jones told Mayfield he could notify his Aloha family 
about his arrest.

"These proceedings are closed; they are secret," Jones said. "But I want to 
make certain that you understood that we are just not taking people and 
holding them incognito and not letting them address the world. You have a 
right to have people know you are in custody."

Mayfield told Jones the government could have subpoenaed him and he would 
have appeared. He said he hoped to be released so he could tend to clients 
of his one-person law practice. "I don't think it's necessary to detain 
me," he said.

He recounted for the judge how he was arrested at his West Slope law office 
by two FBI agents.

"I am an officer of this court," Mayfield said. "To me, it is embarrassing. 
It is humiliating. I am amazed I am arrested and before you in this 
courtroom."

When arrested

When the agents arrested Mayfield, "I asked that they take the cuffs off 
me. They graciously put them in front of me," Mayfield said. He also 
learned that news reporters were aware of the arrest.

"When we were in the Ford Explorer, I said: 'I don't want to make a big 
scene.' (The agent's) reaction was: The media is close behind. Why is the 
media close behind? This can ruin my reputation," he continued.

The transcript shows Jones ordered the government to restore Mayfield's 
home, office and cars to their condition before they were searched by the FBI.

"We don't want to have some claim of some drawer was pulled out and left 
all over the floor and that sort of thing," Jones said.

Later in the hearing, Mayfield's initial attorney, Thomas Nelson, asked the 
judge to underscore that order with "some emphasis" because "the current 
condition of the house is bad."

The transcripts also reveal that prosecutors were alerted to a problem with 
the fingerprint earlier than previously disclosed. The record shows 
prosecutors told Jones there was some doubt immediately after a defense 
fingerprint expert confirmed the FBI's match.

Forensic expert

Ken Moses of Forensic Identification Services testified on May 19 that the 
print from Spain "is the left index finger of Mr. Mayfield."

But under defense questioning, Moses said the identification was "quite 
difficult."

"There is some distortion and some blotting out," he said. "There is 
indication of some movement of the finger, which creates some streaking. 
There is some evidence of a background fingerprint structure; that is, more 
than one fingerprint may have been laid down in the same area."

When Moses finished, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Gorder told Jones that 
prosecutors "received some information from Spain this morning that casts 
some doubt on the identification." Gorder didn't go into detail, telling 
Jones he would talk to him in his chambers because the issue was classified.

"Right now, I want to hear how serious this problem is with Spain," Jones 
said. After meeting privately with Gorder, Jones said in court that the 
problem wasn't significant enough to warrant releasing Mayfield.

That happened at the next hearing on May 20.

Algerian suspect

Gorder said the Spanish had linked the print to an Algerian suspect. He 
said the FBI was waiting for information, and until examiners changed their 
conclusions, "it is our opinion that it is still Mr. Mayfield's print on 
that blue bag."

When Jones asked him about another issue, Gorder said he hadn't had time to 
consider it.

"I spent the last 24 hours worrying about the fingerprint issue," Gorder said.

Gorder agreed Mayfield could be released, and Jones ordered Mayfield freed 
to home detention. He rejected the government's request for electronic 
monitoring of Mayfield.

Four days later, FBI examiners retracted the claim of a match, and 
prosecutors dropped the case against Mayfield.

Les Zaitz: 503-221-8181;leszaitz at news.oregonian.com

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