Brandon Mayfield and the FBI
From the AP:
The day before Brandon Mayfield was wrongly arrested on suspicion of involvement in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings, an FBI official stated in an e-mail that the agency did not have enough evidence to arrest the Portland attorney on criminal charges.The recently declassified e-mail, written by Portland FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele on May 5, 2004, also noted Mayfield was a Muslim convert and states the FBI had a plan to arrest him "if and when" his supposed link to Spain's worst terrorist attack "gets outed by the media."
Read the rest. Discuss.
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July 14, 2005
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Jul 14, '05
My favorite Beth Anne Steele comment was "NO COMMENT", despite a $75,000 a year salary to do just that -- talk to the people who pay her salary.
So, when's our Portland FBI Office, aka "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" coming after the Jews? Are they next?
11:53 a.m.
Jul 14, '05
Well, to be fair, she probably can't comment because it's about a pending lawsuit against her agency. Presumably the lawyers tld her to clam up.
Jul 15, '05
So, first our beloved President channels Nixon and stonewalls for four straight days and now our "not-the-sharpest-tools-in-the-shed" flatfeet do the same?
Gee, if everyone does a W or BA, there would be no Internet!
Or government.
Jul 15, '05
Here's my question... If the fingerprints weren't Brandon Mayfield's, How did law enforcement come up with his name and attach him to the fingerprints that weren't his??? I see this kind of investigative work taking place and I think... No wonder we're having a hard time defeating terrorism.
12:48 p.m.
Jul 15, '05
"If the fingerprints weren't Brandon Mayfield's, How did law enforcement come up with his name and attach him to the fingerprints that weren't his???"
That happened because, despite what too many TV crine dramas have led us to believe, fingerprint identification is not an exact science. Fingerprint identification is a probabilistic exercise. Identification software looks for how many "points" match between a target fingerprint and a huge number of file samples. The higher the matching point total, the more likely it is the fingerprints came from the same person. The computers kicked out something like 10 possible matches for the Madrid bombing fingerprint. Mayfield was just unlucky in that he was one of them.
Once you have the computer matches, human beings look at the fingerprints and try to use human cognitive abilities, which are still far superior to computers for some kinds of pattern matching, to determine the liklihood the prints being compared came from the same person. Unfortunately humans bring some other baggage along with those really good visual pattern matching skills.
Once the computer flagged Mayfield, it's pretty clear that the fact he attends a mosque and had a professional connection with one of the "Portland 7" overroad all other considerations at the FBI. They let their gut reaction obscure the lack of evidence. Had the Madrid fingerprint been less clear or had the prints of the person who was later determined to be the likely suspect not been available, it seems likely he'd still be in jail.
Jul 15, '05
Public Defender Steve Wax, Mayfield's attorney, came into the Bus Project to talk to us PolitiCorps interns today. Very, very interesting case. Seeing the case material was very beneficial for us to understand why Mayfield was originally accused, and why he is innocent.
With fingerprint identification, it seemed that the FBI was faulty in the fact that one person said the fingerprint was a match with Mayfield, so others followed suit, because to say there was not a match would be against the grain.
Also, the FBI seemed to rely on finding matches between Mayfield's prints and the prints found on a bag of explosives that did not detonate --when they should have seen how the fingerprints DID NOT match.
Jul 15, '05
My favorite flat foot clue was the "suspicious" Spanish-language materials found in the Mayfield home.
Turned out to be his kid's Spanish homework.
Aye Chihuahua!
Jul 15, '05
My favorite flat foot clue was the "suspicious" Spanish-language materials found in the Mayfield home.
Turned out to be his kid's Spanish homework.
Aye Chihuahua!
6:14 p.m.
Jul 15, '05
It is a very fascinating case in many respects. It can also, however, be exhausting to watch five hours of it in front of a Federal District Court Judge.
Jul 15, '05
What is so nice about this case is -- the Feds were so badly wrong and Brandon seems (from press coverage) to be so obviously not the "usual subjects" type.
I hope this case continues to get good coverage -- and hopefully beyond the Portland, Oregon area -- because it seems such a "there but for the grace of God" go I kind of case.
Jul 15, '05
What is so nice about this case is -- the Feds were so badly wrong and Brandon seems (from press coverage) to be so obviously not the "usual subjects" type.
I hope this case continues to get good coverage -- and hopefully beyond the Portland, Oregon area -- because it seems such a "there but for the grace of God" go I kind of case.
Jul 15, '05
Incredible timing in the start of his trial...with the debate/vote on extension of the Patriot Ace underway in Washington DC. Let's hope they're all paying attention back there. One hopes that Mr. Mayfield has a "slam-dunk" case, and it might therefore have a knock-on effect.
Jul 16, '05
Too bad BA didn't attend the opening day of "her" federal trial yesterday.
She might have learned something.
3:47 p.m.
Jul 16, '05
One hopes that Mr. Mayfield has a "slam-dunk" case, and it might therefore have a knock-on effect.
It doesn't appear to me that he has a slam-dunk case, unfortunately.