U.S. to pay $2M, apologize for false terror arrest (Portland atty.)

PORTLAND, Oregon (CNN) -- An Oregon lawyer wrongly arrested and accused of involvement in the 2004 Madrid train bombings has settled a lawsuit against the U.S. government for $2 million, attorneys told CNN on Wednesday.

Brandon Mayfield was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a material witness warrant in May 2004, less than two months after the train bombings.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/11/29/mayfield.suit/index.html

This is big, IMO, as it was a really clear case of misidentification, and he and his family practically had their lives ruined because of it. I am very glad for them and hope they can now move on with their lives.

and won?

It's not a huge slap but it is a slap.

Good for Mr. Mayfield and his family.

He was arrested because the government's fingerprint database wrongly identified him as the person who handled the detonators.

This could happen to anyone.

Doctors and other business people have to pay for their mistakes.

If there was a fingerprint match, I'd think they'd be negligent if they didn't arrest him.

I was aware that this was a false match, and showed that there could be matching fingerprints on different people - something that we have all too few statistical studies on. However, this pretty much exhausts my knowledge of this case. What was the basis of his claim for compensation?

Again, a fingerprint match seems to me to be quite sufficient for an arrest.

R. Garrett

"The United States of America apologizes to Mr. Brandon Mayfield and his family for the suffering caused by the FBI's misidentification of Mr. Mayfield's fingerprint
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/11/29/mayfield.suit/index.html

the government’s apology began. It added that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which erroneously linked him to the Madrid bombs through a fingerprinting mistake, had taken steps “to ensure that what happened to Mr. Mayfield and the Mayfield family does not happen again.”

...Fingerprint examiners at the F.B.I. erroneously linked Mr. Mayfield to the terrorist bombings in Madrid through a mistaken identification of a print taken from a plastic bag containing detonator caps that was found at the scene of the bombings

...Despite doubts from Spanish officials about the validity of the fingerprint match, American officials began an aggressive high-level investigation into Mr. Mayfield

...What I really think it speaks to is just how clearly the U.S. government crossed the line when it went after Mayfield.”

...“That and the two million dollars are further evidence that they were vulnerable and that he clearly had some significant leverage in these negotiations.”

...the F.B.I. has acknowledged serious missteps in the case
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/us/30settle.html?hp&ex=1164949200&en=a51cc83cbc8d35c8&ei=5094&partner=homepage

PORTLAND, Oregon (CNN) -- An Oregon lawyer wrongly arrested and accused of involvement in the 2004 Madrid train bombings has settled a lawsuit against the U.S. government for $2 million, attorneys told CNN on Wednesday.

Brandon Mayfield was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a material witness warrant in May 2004, less than two months after the train bombings.

<snip>
Mayfield and his family later sued the U.S. government for damages. The Portland-area attorney contended that he was a victim of profiling because he is a Muslim convert.

The Justice Department denied the profiling allegation in a prepared statement on Wednesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/11/29/mayfield.suit/index.html

Sounds like they're saying "We're not guilty and we won't do it again!"

Now the US needs to make amends with Khaled el-Masri.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-11-29-voa33.cfm

This is big, IMO, as it was a really clear case of misidentification, and he and his family practically had their lives ruined because of it.

I think "ruined" is pretty strong. It was scary when it was happening, but they're certainly doing OK now.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

He and his family have been reduced to penury for years. I'd call that pretty close to ruined. And the prospect of winning any part of his case was pretty slim in this political climate, and probably came within an ace of losing the case entirely because of governmental claims of executive privilege and national security.

A number of his friends in the legal community passed him some cases, enough to keep him going over the rough spots. Plus, as a family practice lawyer, he wasn't all that rich to begin with. Even accounting for the legal fees he owes his own lawyer, this is a significant settlement.

The damage done was 100% psychological, from a purely financial perspective he's come out ahead.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

I'm a little uncertain on how to feel about the settlement. If it were myself that was falsely accused of something so heinous, only to be absolved of any guilt after my family and reputation had been plucked into pieces, I don't really think something like money would appease me. I would be more inclined to see some kind of accountability for the mistake that was made. Did the guy that screwed up get reprimanded or anything?

and if it weren't for the police in Spain, Mayfield could still be rotting in the enemy combatant gulag.

As per usual, the taxpayers pay the penalty that is supposed to deter crime. The people involved will all probably be promoted, and I'll bet the contractor still gets government contracts.

Here's the bush administration, eating crow on another one. And a big crow pie it is: a $2 million settlement, a public apology, and they have to leave him alone to further pursue his case on the Patriot Act.

This is the case of the lawyer, Brandon Mayfield, who was accused in the Madrid bombings. He was wrongfully imprisoned, despite the fact that Spanish officials did not think the evidence was worth pursuing. The NY Times article quotes him on how he was treated:

I personally was subject to lockdown, strip searches, sleep deprivation, unsanitary living conditions, shackles and chains, threats, physical pain and humiliation.”

Shackles and chains!!?? Physical pain!?!!!

Here's what a former CIA lawyer said about the settlement:

“You’ve got to think that the Justice Department did not want to make that concession,” she said. “That and the two million dollars are further evidence that they were vulnerable and that he clearly had some significant leverage in these negotiations.”

Read the rest of the story and what parts of the Patriot Act this true patriot, Brandon Mayfield, will pursue:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/us/30settle.html?hp&ex=1164949200&en=a51cc83cbc8d35c8&ei=5094&partner=homepage




Cher

:kick:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 — The federal government agreed to pay $2 million Wednesday to an Oregon lawyer wrongly jailed in connection with the 2004 terrorist bombings in Madrid, and it issued a formal apology to him and his family.

The unusual settlement caps a two-and-a-half-year ordeal that saw the lawyer, Brandon Mayfield, go from being a suspected terrorist operative to a symbol, in the eyes of his supporters, of government overzealousness in the war on terrorism.

“The United States of America apologizes to Mr. Brandon Mayfield and his family for the suffering caused” by his mistaken arrest, the government’s apology began. It added that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which erroneously linked him to the Madrid bombs through a fingerprinting mistake, had taken steps “to ensure that what happened to Mr. Mayfield and the Mayfield family does not happen again.”

At an emotional news conference in Portland announcing the settlement, Mr. Mayfield said he and his wife, an Egyptian immigrant, and their three children still suffered from the scars left by the government’s surveillance of him and his jailing for two weeks in May 2004.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/us/30settle.html?hp&ex=1164862800&en=444d84522e6b9703&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Way to go Ashcroft & Gonzalez.

If you're going to make a mistake like this, make sure it's not a lawyer. Whoopsie!