Posted on 01/06/2006 5:09:37 PM PST by Ramius
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2006 — A Justice Department inspector general report found that problems with FBI forensic analysis and performance led to the mistaken arrest of an Oregon man as a suspect in the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombings.
Portland attorney Brandon Mayfield was incorrectly identified by the FBI as a suspect in the attacks because of incorrect fingerprint data. Mayfield was arrested on May 6, 2004, and secretly held as a material witness for two weeks. He was released when the Spanish National Police eventually matched the fingerprints to an Algerian national.
Justice Department's Inspector General Glenn Fine's review found several problems with the actions of FBI employeers, as well as systemic problems at the FBI lab in Quantico, Va.
Specifically, the unusual similarity between Mayfield's fingerprint and the fingerprint on a bag of detonators found in Madrid confused several fingerprint experts. FBI laboratory examiners identified Mayfield's fingerprint as matching a print found on a bag of detonators connected to the Madrid commuter train attack, which killed 191 people and injured almost 1,500. A court-appointed fingerprint expert also misidentified the prints.
The Spanish National Police had provided digital photographs of the prints on the detonator bag from Madrid and sent the pictures to the FBI Lab, where they were entered into the bureau's computer. When no exact matches were found, a second search was performed, prompting the computer to return a list of 20 candidates whose known prints had features in common with the ones found on the detonator bag.
"We concluded that the examiners committed errors in the examination procedure, and that the misidentification could have been prevented through a more rigorous application of several principles of latent fingerprint identification," the report said.
Religion a Factor?
The inspector general report also looked into whether Mayfield's conversion to Islam was a factor in the FBI's focus on Mayfield. Mayfield, a practicing Muslim, also piqued the investigators' interest because he was an attorney for a convicted terrorism suspect.
The report noted, "One of the examiners candidly admitted that if the person identified had been someone without these characteristics, like the 'Maytag Repairman,' the laboratory might have revisited the identification with more skepticism and caught the error." The Justice Department review states that Mayfield's religion and representation of a convicted terrorist contributed to the examiners failing to reconsider the fingerprint misidentification but said there was no evidence his religion played a role in the FBI prolonging the investigation.
Mayfield's attorney, however, was not satisfied with the report's conclusion.
"Rather than admit its mistake, because of Mr. Mayfield's Muslim faith, the U.S. government was willing to subject Mr. Mayfield to the death penalty," said Mayfield's attorney, Gerry Spence, in a statement. Mayfield, through his attorney, also said the audit confirms "he was the victim of religious profiling." Mayfield has sued the government over his detention.
The case has been controversial not only because of the faulty fingerprint data but also because the FBI used secret warrants to collect information about Mayfield. The FBI obtained Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants in the case and intercepted electronic communications and conducted covert searches of his property with a court order.
The inspector general's audit found that the controversial Patriot Act was not abused in the case; certain provisions of the act allowed governmnet investigators to widely share information they had collected about Mayfield. The review noted, "We did not find any evidence that the FBI misused any of the provisions of the Patriot Act in conducting its investigation."
In a statement, the FBI said, "We appreciate the work of the Office of the Inspector General in providing additional insights and perspective into how the FBI can strengthen the process of fingerprint identification. Of particular importance, the OIG report confirmed there was no misconduct by the FBI or misuse of the USA Patriot Act. We are confident that the OIG's findings and recommendations, combined with corrective measures already implemented, will significantly enhance our ability to perform our duties to the public."
The report also confirmed that the Justice Department used highly secretive National Security Letters to collect information on Mayfield. Much of that information has not been disclosed publicly because much of the 273 page report remains classified.
Sections of the Patriot Act are due to expire at the end of the month unless Congress renews the antiterrorism law. The debate over the Patriot Act and the government authority's to collect information has intensified in recent weeks in light of recent disclosures that the National Security Agency collected information on people inside the United States without obtaining a court order.
The FBI had a recent muslim convert, an attorney with close affiliation and contact with terrorist organizations-- who's fingerprints (at the time) appeared to match fingerprints left in the Madrid bombing.
In whose alternate universe are those not "dots" worthy of "connecting"? Of ~course~ he should have been investigated and interrogated. As it would happen the case went nowhere because the fingerprints were not a match-- but they'd been sufficiently close to fool several experts. Well... it's a chance in a million but it happens.
This Portland group is not without other reasons to keep an eye on. They're not finished, I don't think. Remember that Portland is the only city in the U.S. where the mayor and chief of police are not cleared for classified briefings or information from Homeland Security. They already announced their allegiance to the other side.
And it was...A SECRET WARRANT!!!! (duh duh DUUUUHHHH!)
ONE mistake.
Thank God FDR or Lincoln didn't have to live up to that standard.
I'm not even sure it's fair to "blame" the lab or anybody else on this one. Apparently the fingerprints were all extremely similar such that a few different sets of expert eyes all were fooled for a while.
In the end though, the fingerprint differences were discovered and this guy's prints were excluded. That's not a mistake, that's just how investigations sometimes work. Yes, one can say that they were mistakenly identified... but it wasn't a procedural or process error-- it was a re-analysis of prints that at first genuinely appeared to match.
To call any of this a "problem" at the FBI suggests that the FBI or anybody else in the investigation should have acted any differently given the information they had at the time. They should not have.
Two lousy weeks in jail, big deal. I've been in there longer than that when I was innocent. At least this was for a good cause. I'd much rather 3,000 innocent people spend two weeks in jail than 3,000 of them die permanently in an hour.
And there are people on FR who think it is virtually impossible for an innocent person to be convicted. No convition here, but a screw up for sure. Law enforcement is government and government can screw anything up. All you doubting Thomas' out there remember this screw up.
Yes... it's too bad any innocent person might ever have to spend any time in jail. It does happen, and it is not ever going to be completely avoidable.
I don't think many people, FR or otherwise, think it is "virtually impossible" for an innocent person to be convicted. Of course it happens all the time, and it always will.
But it didn't in this case. Not only was he not convicted but the investigation ultimately cleared him. What screw up?
Freedom, schmeedom.
The lab screw up. Didn't you read the story before you posted? (Sometimes I don't either).
So the lab should have just ignored fingerprints that appeared to match?
That would have been a screw up deserving of headlines. As it was the fingerprints were very close and matched in enough ways to be worth pursuing. Later they found out that the prints, while close, were not in fact a match.
What should they have done? Just ignored it then?
Waco. Ruby Ridge. Joe Schwartz. And so on.
I'm talking about in this specific action--rounding up terrorists.
If we are going to call out every agency because of past errors in other cases, why not just close down the whole government? I'll bet the terrorists will be really scared of us then.
What bothers me the most about this is a US citizen was "secretly held as a material witness for two weeks". This stuff isn't supposed to happen in America.
Just wait until Hitlery and AG Schumer redefine "terrorist" to mean "gun owning American".
If we are going to call out every agency because of past errors in other cases, why not just close down the whole government?
Fewer mistakes would happen if the folks responsible for previous mistakes were held accountable. Instead, they are promoted.
You're right. Because of this one mistake we should dismantle the FBI.
People are held in custody during an ongoing investigation sometimes, and it is supposed to happen in America. Without it, prosecutors would just lose people overseas the second they caught wind of the investigation.
It doesn't have to be used all that often, but when it does, it is necessary.
Yah, Ruby Ridge sucked. Got it. I think so too.
But it doesn't mean everybody in the FBI is always wrong in every case. Believe it or not sometimes they even get stuff right.
If the FBI had connected the dots before 9-11 and arrested the 19 terrorists before they had a chance to hijack the planes, the 19 would have all filed civil rights lawsuits by now. Jamie Gorelick would probably be one of the attorneys.
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