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Man held in Madrid bombing finds FBI flaws

SEATTLE, June 1 (UPI) -- An FBI examiner who wrongly linked a Portland, Ore., lawyer to the Madrid train bombings made bad fingerprint identifications twice in the past, documents show.

Brandon Mayfield, arrested May 6 because fingerprints found on a bag of detonators near the bombing site, has hired an international fingerprint expert to evaluate those prints, the Seattle Times reported Tuesday.

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That expert, Scotland Yard's Allan Bayle, says FBI agents relied on a "substandard" photograph of the Madrid fingerprint.

Court records show that retired FBI agent John Massey, who worked on the Madrid case, was reprimanded three times by the FBI between 1969 and 1974 for errors, including twice making false fingerprint identifications, the newspaper said.

The bureau has promised an independent investigation into the Mayfield case, which has shattered the FBI fingerprint lab's image of infallibility.

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