Witness to Abuse - Human Rights Watch

subsequently seeking to implicate them in any crime—often based on information it
obtained from grand jury testimony or informal interviews. The Justice Department
consistently has refused to grant such immunity, undoubtedly because it viewed the
witnesses first and foremost as suspects. Chris Schatz, federal public defender of
Oregon, who was one of the lawyers who represented Brandon Mayfield in May 2004,
described his attempts to secure immunity for Mayfield:
They had no intent to bring him in front of a grand jury. If you were
never going to give him immunity then it was a questionable abuse of
the process. … If their focus is not on prosecuting then what do you
care about immunity in negotiations? If it’s your objective to get
testimony, then the refusal to get immunity was an abuse of the law. 104
Mayfield claims, and court documents confirm, that the government threatened him
with capital punishment during his immunity negotiations:
They were threatening me with capital charges. In proffer discussions
they said they were going to give me limited immunity. But they believed
it was me. They pretty much told us, “We have enough to indict you but
not enough to prosecute.” 105
John Meyer, the attorney for material witness Nabil al-Marabh, also described the
government’s refusal to negotiate over al-Marabh’s immunity:
From the day he arrived in Chicago, the government was not going to
give him immunity and compel his testimony. Instead of calling Nabil,
the government made continuances at every stage. It was clear they
didn’t want to put him in front of the grand jury in hopes of charging
him with other crimes. 106
104
HRW/ACLU interview with Chris Schatz, co-counsel for Brandon Mayfield, Portland, Oregon, June 23, 2004;
HRW/ACLU telephone interview with Steven Wax, co-counsel for Brandon Mayfield, Portland, Oregon, June
2004. Federal Public Defenders Steve Wax and Chris Shatz have published a detailed account of the
challenges of obtaining immunity in material witness proceedings. Steven T. Wax and Chris Shatz, “A Multitude
of Errors: the Brandon Mayfield Case,” The Champion, Oct. 28 2004, Champ 6 (Sept./Oct. 2004).
105
HRW/ACLU interview with Brandon Mayfield, Beaverton, Oregon, June 22, 2004.
106
Interview with John Meyer.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17, NO. 2(G) 32