The FBI Was Certain. They Had the WRONG Man.
The Odd Docket
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In 2004, the FBI believed it had identified a fingerprint from the Madrid train bombings.
The fingerprint was matched to Brandon Mayfield, an attorney from Portland, Oregon.
Three FBI fingerprint examiners agreed.
They were wrong.
Mayfield was arrested as a material witness and held for approximately two weeks. His home and office were searched, and the FBI prepared to use the fingerprint identification as part of its case against him.
But there was a problem.
Spanish investigators had reached a different conclusion.
They identified the fingerprint as belonging to an Algerian national named Ouhnane Daoud.
When the Spanish identification was confirmed, the FBI withdrew its identification of Mayfield and released him.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice's Inspector General later examined how the error happened—and found that the FBI's examiners had overlooked important differences between the prints and that the bureau missed an opportunity to catch the mistake after Spanish authorities raised doubts.
This is the story of Brandon Mayfield, the fingerprint that wasn't his, and what happens when a forensic "certainty" turns out to be wrong.
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1 Comments
The FBI Was Certain. They Had the WRONG Man.
The Odd Docket
58 views
In 2004, the FBI believed it had identified a fingerprint from the Madrid train bombings.
The fingerprint was matched to Brandon Mayfield, an attorney from Portland, Oregon.
Three FBI fingerprint examiners agreed.
They were wrong.
Mayfield was arrested as a material witness and held for approximately two weeks. His home and office were searched, and the FBI prepared to use the fingerprint identification as part of its case against him.
But there was a problem.
Spanish investigators had reached a different conclusion.
They identified the fingerprint as belonging to an Algerian national named Ouhnane Daoud.
When the Spanish identification was confirmed, the FBI withdrew its identification of Mayfield and released him.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice's Inspector General later examined how the error happened—and found that the FBI's examiners had overlooked important differences between the prints and that the bureau missed an opportunity to catch the mistake after Spanish authorities raised doubts.
This is the story of Brandon Mayfield, the fingerprint that wasn't his, and what happens when a forensic "certainty" turns out to be wrong.
Welcome to The Odd Docket.
True stories from crime, law, history, and the strange failures of systems that were supposed to get things right.
Subscribe for the next case.
#TrueCrime #ForensicScience #TheOddDocket
If you were investigating the case, would one conflicting expert opinion have been enough to make you stop and re-examine the evidence?
Or would you trust the original fingerprint identification?
I'm curious where you'd draw the line.