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'{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}} '''Brandon Mayfield''' (born July 15, 1966) is an American citizen in [[Washington County, Oregon|Washington County]], [[Oregon]], who was accused of being the bomber in the [[2004 Madrid train bombings]]. On May 6, 2004, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] arrested Mayfield as a [[material witness]] in connection with the [[Madrid]] attacks, and held him for over two weeks.<ref name=aja>{{cite news |author=[[Matthew Harwood]] |coauthors= |title=The terrifying surveillance case of Brandon Mayfield |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/2/the-terrifying-surveillancecaseofbrandonmayfield.html |quote= |newspaper=[[Al Jazeera America]] |date=February 8, 2014 |accessdate=2014-03-05 }}</ref> Mayfield was charged, and an FBI internal review later acknowledged serious errors in their investigation. Ensuing lawsuits have resulted in a formal apology from the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] and a $2 million settlement. An initial ruling declared some provisions of the [[Patriot Act|USA PATRIOT Act]] unconstitutional, but the United States government appealed, and the ruling was overturned. Mayfield's case has been referenced in numerous scientific, political, and social journals.<ref name=trib0309>{{cite news |title=Lawyer unjustly jailed working toward "normal" |url=http://www.pamplinmedia.com/component/content/article?id=46794 |first=David |last=Holley |date=March 26, 2009 |work=Portland Tribune }}</ref> ==Early life and career== Brandon Mayfield was born in [[Coos Bay, Oregon]] and grew up in [[Halstead, Kansas]]. He served in the [[United States Army Reserve]] from 1985 to 1989, and then as an officer in the [[United States Army|Army]] in [[Bitburg]], Germany from 1992 to 1994. He met his wife Mona, an [[Egypt]]ian national and the daughter of a college professor, on a blind date in [[Olympia, Washington]] in 1986, and converted to Islam shortly afterwards. They have lived in [[Beaverton, Oregon]] off and on since 1989.<ref name=trib0309/> Although he was a regular worshiper at a Beaverton mosque prior to his arrest, his colleagues were unaware of his religious beliefs. The [[imam]] of the mosque has described Mayfield as "very patriotic." The Mayfields have four children.<ref name=trib0309/> He studied law at [[Washburn University]] and [[Lewis & Clark College]], receiving his law degree from Washburn in 1999, and practicing family law in [[Newport, Oregon|Newport]] before moving to the [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] [[Portland metropolitan area|area]]. Mayfield performed work for the Modest Means Program of the [[Oregon State Bar]], which matches attorneys who are willing to work at reduced rates for low-income clients. In 2003 he offered legal aid to Jeffrey Leon Battle, one of the [[Portland Seven]], a group of people convicted of trying to travel to [[Afghanistan]] to help the [[Taliban]]. Battle at the time was involved in a child custody case. == False accusation in 2004 bombing == === Arrest and detention === Following the [[2004 Madrid train bombings]] fingerprints on a bag containing detonating devices were found by Spanish authorities. The [[National Police Corps|Spanish National Police]] shared the fingerprints with the [[FBI]] through [[Interpol]]. Twenty possible matches for one of the fingerprints were found in the [[FBI]] database and one of the possible matches was Brandon Mayfield. His prints were in the FBI database as they were taken as part of standard procedure when he joined the military. He became the [[prime suspect]] because of his [[Religious conversion|conversion to Islam]] and because he had represented one of the [[Portland Seven]].<ref name=aja/> The FBI described the fingerprint match as "100% verified". According to the court documents in judge [[Ann Aiken]]'s decision, this information was largely "fabricated and concocted by the FBI and DOJ". When the FBI finally sent Mayfield's fingerprints to the Spanish authorities, they contested the matching of the fingerprints from Brandon Mayfield to the ones associated with the Madrid bombing. Further, the Spanish authorities informed the FBI they had other suspects in the case, Moroccan immigrants not linked to anyone in the US. The FBI disregarded the information from the Spanish authorities, and proceeded to spy on Mayfield and his family further. Mayfield was concerned for the safety of his children and wife, and according to his father, he suspected that he was under surveillance by the federal authorities. In the weeks before his arrest, Mayfield's family was under the impression that their house had been broken into at least twice, although nothing was stolen.<ref name=aja/> According to court documents, the FBI used [[national security letter]]s in order to wiretap his phones, bug his house, and search his house several times.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |url=http://www.ord.uscourts.gov/rulings/04-cv-1427Opinion.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-09-27 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307030557/http://www.ord.uscourts.gov/rulings/04-cv-1427Opinion.pdf |archivedate=March 7, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> As was discovered during the court case, even the FBI's own records show that this fingerprint, despite the sworn testimony of FBI and DOJ agents, was in all reality not an exact match but only one of 20 prints "similar" to the ones retrieved from Madrid. Based on that list of people with "similar prints" the FBI launched an extensive investigation of all 20 individuals using letters of national security. The investigation included medical records, financial records, employment records, etc. on all 20 people and their families. It was during this investigation that Brandon Mayfield's name rose to the top of the list. The FBI arrested Mayfield at his offices in [[West Slope, Oregon|West Slope]], an unincorporated suburb of Portland. The arrest was similar to the then-recent [[Mike Hawash]] case, under a [[material witness]] warrant rather than under charge; he was held with no access to family and limited access, if any, to legal counsel. The FBI initially refused to inform either Mayfield or his family why he was being detained or where he was being held. Later, the FBI leaked the nature of the charges to the local media and the family learned of the charges by watching the local news. He was at first held at a [[Multnomah County, Oregon|Multnomah County]] jail under a false name; he was later transferred to an unidentified location. His family protested that Mayfield had no connection with the bombings, nor had he been off the continent in over 11 to 14 years. === Release === Before his arrest, Spanish authorities informed the FBI in a letter from April 13, that they reviewed the fingerprint on the bag as a negative match of Mayfield's fingerprint,<ref>{{Cite book| last=Wax | first=Steven T. | authorlink=Steven T. Wax | title=Kafka comes to America | pages=154 | isbn=978-1-59051-295-1 | year=2008 | publisher=Other Press}}</ref> though this letter was not communicated to Mayfield's attorneys. On May 19 the Spanish authorities announced that the fingerprints actually belonged to an [[Algeria]]n national, [[2004 Madrid train bombings|Ouhnane Daoud]]; Brandon Mayfield was released from prison when the international press broke the story the next day—May 20, 2004.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> A [[gag order]] remained in force for the next few days. By May 25, the case was dismissed by the judge, who ordered the return of seized evidence and unsealing of documents pertaining to his arrest. The FBI conducted an internal review of Mayfield's arrest and detention, concluding that although he was not arrested solely due to his religious beliefs, they may have contributed to investigator's failure to take into account the Spanish concerns over fingerprint identification.<ref>[http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/s0601/final.pdf USDOJ Report]</ref> The FBI issued a press release announcing the report's conclusion that they had not misused the [[Patriot Act|USA PATRIOT Act]] in the investigation.<ref>Fingerprint misidentification of Brandon Mayfield – [https://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel06/mayfield010606.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411074910/https://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel06/mayfield010606.htm |date=April 11, 2010 }}</ref> Civil libertarians and the [[American Civil Liberties Union|ACLU]] nonetheless consider Mayfield's detention a misuse of the material witness statute.<ref>Administration Abuses Material Witness Law – [http://talkleft.com/new_archives/011225.html#011225 TalkLeft.com]</ref> The FBI later admitted wrongdoing and apologized for their acts. In response, Mayfield filed several lawsuits over this invasion of his privacy. One sought to force the government to return or destroy copies of items seized from his home. Another, which was argued before [[United States district court|U.S. district court]] Judge [[Ann Aiken]] on July 15, 2005, challenged the law which was used against him as [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]]. The Federal Government filed several motions to have Mayfield's case dismissed as a matter of national security, or national secrets, but these were denied by Judge Aiken. === Court's ruling and aftermath === The case was heard by the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals]]. Among the issues on appeal was whether materials removed from Mayfield's house, including DNA samples taken from his family's personal [[toothbrush]]es, were to be destroyed or preserved. The Federal Government assumed the position that materials must be preserved so that they can be referred to, if more lawsuits are brought in the future. On November 29, 2006, the U.S. government settled part of the lawsuit with Mayfield for a reported $2 million. The government issued a formal apology to Mayfield as part of the settlement. The settlement allowed Mayfield to pursue a legal challenge against the Patriot Act.<ref>Wrongly accused man settles bomb suit – [https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061129/ap_on_re_us/spain_bombings_fbi news.yahoo.com]</ref> The FBI was also cleared of wrongdoing in an earlier internal investigation. On September 26, 2007, two provisions of the U.S. Patriot Act were declared unconstitutional. Finding in Mayfield's favor, Judge Aiken ruled that the [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]], as amended by the Patriot Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourth Amendment]]," which violates the Constitution of the United States.<ref>{{cite news|last=McCall|first=William |agency=AP |publisher=[[ABC News]]|title=2 Patriot Act Provisions Ruled Unlawful|url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3657070|date=September 26, 2007|accessdate=September 26, 2007}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> The Federal government appealed that ruling, and Mayfield's attorney, [[Elden Rosenthal]], argued in front of the Ninth Circuit court on February 5, 2009.<ref name=trib0309/> The ruling was overturned in December 2009 on the ground that the Court found the plaintiff, Mayfield, not to have [[standing (law)|standing]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Mayfield v. US, No. 07-35865|url=https://blogs.findlaw.com/ninth_circuit/2009/12/mayfield-v-us-no-07-35865.html|newspaper=[[FindLaw]]|date=December 11, 2009}}</ref> == Subsequent work == Between 2015 and 2017, Mayfield participated in a campaign with CAIR, the ACLU, and the National Lawyers Guild to press for the Portland City Council to sever ties with the [[Joint Terrorism Task Force]], citing surveillance and immigration issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/6/in-or-out-portland-debates-return-to-anti-terror-t/|title=In or out? Portland debates return to anti-terror task force|publisher=Washington Times|date=2015-02-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2017/11/08/19453176/theres-a-new-call-for-portland-to-sever-ties-with-a-federal-terrorism-task-force|title=There's a New Call for Portland to Sever Ties With a Federal Terrorism Task Force|author=Dirk VanderHart|date=2018-11-08|publisher=Portland Mercury}}</ref> In 2018 Brandon Mayfield represented [[Yonas Fikre]] before the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals]], successfully persuading the court that damages done to the man by his placement on the [[No Fly List]] and interference with his attempts to return to the United States gave him standing to challenge the unconstitutionality of the policy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/09/appeals_court_revives_challeng.html|title=Federal appeals court revives challenge of no-fly list |author=Maxine Bernstein|date=2018-09-20|publisher=Oregon Live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2018/05/federal_appeals_court_to_hear.html|title=Federal appeals court hears Portlander's challenge of no-fly list|publisher=Oregon Live|author=Maxine Bernstein|date=2018-05-10}}</ref> ==See also== *[[Shirley McKie]], misidentified fingerprint *[[New York State Police Troop C scandal]], fabricated crime scene fingerprints == References == {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayfield, Brandon}} [[Category:1966 births]] [[Category:Converts to Islam]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Oregon lawyers]] [[Category:Fingerprints]] [[Category:Lewis & Clark College alumni]] [[Category:People from Beaverton, Oregon]] [[Category:People from Coos Bay, Oregon]] [[Category:American Muslims]]'