Portland man innocent in Madrid train bombing, family says

By Hal Bernton and David Heath
Seattle Times staff reporters

Brandon Mayfield

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PORTLAND — A soft-spoken lawyer struggling to build a small practice here has suddenly been swept into an international investigation of the Madrid train bombing — the biggest terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001.

Law-enforcement authorities say fingerprint evidence may link Muslim convert and former Army Lt. Brandon Mayfield to a bag in Spain that contained detonators. But his family insists he is an innocent man caught up in an investigation that somehow took a wrong turn.

"I guarantee you that my brother has nothing to do with this," said Kent Mayfield, referring to the March 11 bombing that killed 191 people and injured more than 2,000.

"Anyone who knows him knows that it's just completely ridiculous," said his father, Bill Mayfield of Halstead, Kan., a small town north of Wichita where Mayfield grew up.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland yesterday wouldn't acknowledge that Mayfield was detained Thursday and is being held as a material witness. He has not been charged.

Authorities can hold a witness against his will if his testimony is critical in a criminal investigation. Mayfield is scheduled to testify before a grand jury next week, according to his family.

Law-enforcement officials in Spain said Mayfield's fingerprint was found on a bag containing detonators of the kind used in the March 11 attack, in which four commuter trains were simultaneously bombed.

The bag was found in a van parked near a train station. However, the Los Angeles Times quoted unnamed Spanish authorities saying they don't consider the fingerprint evidence to be conclusive.

Reuters news service reported that the Spanish investigators found only eight matching points, while the FBI said it found 15 points.

As a former Army lieutenant, Mayfield's fingerprints would be on file with the U.S. government. He was stationed for a while at Fort Lewis.

Fingerprint evidence, long the gold-standard of forensic identification, is not infallible, said Kenneth Moses, the founder and former director of the Crime Scene Investigations Unit of the San Francisco Crime Laboratory.

Problems with fingerprint identifications can arise from shoddy work when making comparisons or by reaching conclusions on the basis of too few points of comparison, said Moses, a recognized expert in fingerprint analysis.

Mayfield, who has struggled to build his own law practice over the past four years, once handled a child-custody case for one of the "Portland Seven," a group charged with trying to join the Taliban to fight against the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mayfield's client, Jeffrey Leon Battle, 33, was sentenced to 18 years in prison last November.

Ruth Alexander, Mayfield's former stepmother from Hutchinson, Kan., said her stepson took the case because he needed the work.

	Mona Mayfield

Mona Mayfield, his wife, said yesterday her husband is innocent. "My husband is a good man and a good father and this has been devastating to me, and my children are devastated."

She and her husband and their three children live in the western Portland suburb of Aloha in a neighborhood of wood-frame homes and apartment buildings.

Neighbors say the family has been friendly, reaching out with offerings of baklava over the Christmas holidays and recently helping to rescue a cat stuck in a tree.

A family friend who spent time with Mona Mayfield yesterday said the family thinks the Spanish evidence is flawed and that Brandon Mayfield has been unfairly targeted as an American Muslim convert.

Mayfield's brother, Kent, an art teacher at a junior high school in Halstead, said , "My brother has never condoned violence. He is an advocate for change. He is critical of the Bush administration. If that's a crime, that's the only crime he's committed."

A sister, Amy Sikes of Hutchinson, said, "He's just a wonderful man. He's very loving and gentle."

Mayfield joined the Army because he needed a job and wanted to serve his country, family members said.

"You couldn't find anybody who's more apple pie than Brandon," said his father.

While serving at Fort Lewis, he met his future wife, Mona, who is from Egypt. Mayfield later converted to Islam. The couple last left the country 10 years ago to visit family in Egypt, Alexander, the former stepmother, said.

Mayfield has practiced law since 2000 from a small office in a business park.

He was "a perfect tenant" who always paid his rent on time and never drew any complaints from other businesses that share the park, according to Sharon Brown, of Lawrence Investments, which manages the property.

Most of the time, Mayfield worked alone without a secretary, though sometimes his wife came to help, according to Brian Lamson, an insurance agent in a nearby office.

"My impression was that he was just starting out — hanging out a shingle for the first time," Lamson said. "He appeared very serious and very dedicated."

Some of Mayfield's practice involved immigration law. Portland attorney Dagmar Butte said Mayfield called her a few times for advice on cases and she urged him to join an association of immigration lawyers for support. But he never did.

Mayfield's dented red Chevrolet Corsica remained parked outside his office yesterday.

An FBI receipt for "properties received" sat on a front seat, listing items seized, including: business cards, audiocassettes and driving directions from MapQuest, an Internet service.

Mayfield and his family attended services at Beaverton's Bilal Mosque, where his wife and daughter wore hidjab scarves, the traditional head coverings for Muslim women.

Mayfield is remembered at the mosque as a respectful, decent man, who volunteered during weekends to teach English to African Muslim immigrants.

"He was very much an American, and we needed a white guy for the right accent," said Shahrir Ahmed, president of the mosque.

"He wanted them to learn, so they could become engaged and become part of the system."

Mona Mayfield described her husband's reaction while the television program they were watching was interrupted with news of the train bombing in Madrid.

"He turned to me and said — 'Those goddamn terrorists. I'm sick and tired of them harming civilians.' "

Staff reporter Mike Carter and The Associated Press contributed to this report. David Heath reported from Seattle.

Hal Bernton: 503-292-1016 or hbernton@seattletimes.com

David Heath: 206-464-2136 or dheath@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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