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| Mayfield evidence unsealed |
| 2004-09-21 |
| Four months after the FBI apologized for wrongly arresting a Portland attorney for ties to the March 11 Madrid train bombings, a federal judge on Monday unsealed a document that prosecutors say lends support to the government's decision to keep Brandon Mayfield detained for two weeks. The document details evidence gathered after Mayfield's arrest, including that his computer had been used to view Web sites for the Spanish national rail system and to search for plane tickets to Spain, that Mayfield had once taken flight lessons, and that a September 2001 note found at Mayfield's house expressed support for the Taliban. Karin Immergut, the U.S. Attorney in Oregon, wrote in a legal motion that although the evidence does not alter the government's admission that Mayfield is innocent, it proves prosecutors did not have a "callous disregard" for civil rights when FBI agents detained Mayfield from May 6 to May 20. Attorneys for Mayfield say there were innocent explanations for the new information, much of which they said came from the homework and journal of Mayfield's 12-year-old daughter. Attorney Gerry Spence said the government is trying to justify a faulty investigation that profiled Mayfield, a convert to Islam, by his religious beliefs, and that became an embarrassment for the Justice Department's war on terrorism. "What they did is demonize Mr. Mayfield, who is a good American citizen and who the government admits has nothing to do with Madrid," Spence said. Mayfield was released after the FBI admitted it had wrongly matched his fingerprints to those found on a bag containing detonators like those used in the attacks on trains in Madrid that killed nearly 200 people and wounded 2,000. He was never charged with a crime. Federal prosecutors asked Judge Robert E. Jones to release the 49-page document unsealed Monday because Mayfield is planning a civil lawsuit against the government for his arrest as a material witness. The evidence it lists was gathered from Mayfield's home May 6-10 while he was detained. Agents found his computer had been used to research airline schedules from Portland to Madrid in September and October 2003, and to access Web sites marketing rental housing in Spain, and sites for the Spanish national rail system that became the target of the March attack, according to the document. Agents also found a handwritten note with a phone number in Spain, two firearms and a note written in September 2001 - apparently by Mayfield - expressing support for the Taliban, the fundamentalist Islamic regime in Afghanistan that harbored al-Qaida and was driven from power by a U.S. invasion in late 2001. Mayfield's co-counsel Elden Rosenthal said that what the document describes as a pro-Taliban note was actually an entry from his daughter Sharia's journal that read: "Who is America to bomb the Taliban because they don't like Afghanistan's law? All I say that Americans should think twice about the example you are setting on the rest of the countries." Spence said the Spain-related Web sites were accessed by Mayfield's daughter when she worked on a school homework assignment to plan a fantasy vacation. The phone number in Spain was for an exchange program Mayfield's wife, Mona, had been interested in for their elder son, Spence said. Spence said the government picked and chose "just those items that would make the Mayfield family look suspicious" from thousands of items on the family's hard drives. "This is the government acting as big brother, and it's frightening," Spence said. The U.S. Attorney's office could not be reached for comment after working hours Monday. In Mayfield's initial arrest affidavit, the government had cited as supporting evidence for the arrest Mayfield's attendance at a local mosque, and phone calls placed to an Islamic charity later linked to terrorism. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #8 I didn't say Spence was a good lawyer. He finds no-lose cases, cases he think he can't possibly lose. I read part of his vitae. The man has never lost a jury trial in his life. Now, either a) he is a very good litigaor or b) he trades in cases he knows he can't lose. I vote b). |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-09-21 12:28:52 PM |
| #7 Having a good lawyer and getting acquitted does not innocence make. |
| Posted by: 2B 2004-09-21 12:17:03 PM |
| #6 The system worked - Mayfield's not been convicted, has he? Nah - we're going to wait till he actually blows someone up before convicting him - if we can prove it. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-09-21 10:51:17 AM |
| #5 in other words, he's guilty, but they chose to let him go. Having sympathies doesn't automatically make the guy guilty. The details that have been outlined are somewhat eyebrow-raising, but not clear evidence of complicity, and as a result not much can be done. Now had the fingerprint thing panned out, things might have turned out differently. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-09-21 10:37:42 AM |
| #4 Like I said. This Gerry Spence fella trades on cases he can't lose. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-09-21 8:47:46 AM |
| #3 oh please. Like his 12 year old daughter, named "sharia" came up with that sentiment all on her own. Agents found his computer had been used to research airline schedules from Portland to Madrid in September and October 2003, and to access Web sites marketing rental housing in Spain, and sites for the Spanish national rail system that became the target of the March attack, according to the document. And, correct me if I'm wrong - but you generally don't need "rental housing" when on an exchange program. |
| Posted by: 2B 2004-09-21 8:36:10 AM |
| #2 Attorney Gerry Spence said the government is trying to justify a faulty investigation that profiled Mayfield, a convert to Islam, by his religious beliefs, and that became an embarrassment for the Justice Department’s war on terrorism. Actually, Mayfield probably isn't guilty, since his lawyer, Gerry Spence, apparently doesn't pick losing cases. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-09-21 8:19:28 AM |
| #1 in other words, he's guilty, but they chose to let him go. |
| Posted by: 2B 2004-09-21 7:26:28 AM |