In 2004 terrorists in Madrid, Spain bombed trains resulting in the deaths of almost 200 people, and the injury of 1,400 more. A latent fingerprint found on a detonator was identified by the FBI as belonging to Oregon attorney, Brandon Mayfield, who was subsequently arrested.
Two weeks later, the Spanish National Police identified the print as belonging to an Algerian national, Ouhnane Daoud, and notified the FBI. After reexamining his fingerprints ,Mayfield was released after spending 14 days in federal custody. A formal apology was issued by the FBI to Mayfield and his family.
In light of the misidentification of the fingerprints, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General ordered a review to discover how the error was made, assess the FBI Laboratory’s conduct, evaluate the FBI’s response to the error, and to provide recommendations to prevent future errors.
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