Report: FBI erred in judgment in Jewell interview

ATLANTA (CNN) -- The Justice Department has concluded that FBI agents made a "major error in judgment" when they used a ruse to interview security guard Richard Jewell after the Olympic park bombing, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday.

Agents interviewed Jewell -- initially hailed as a hero for spotting the backpack containing the bomb -- under the pretext of creating a training film. But an internal FBI memo shows the Justice Department probe found no evidence that agents had broken any laws or violated Jewell's civil rights in the investigation.

Jewell became the focus of the FBI's investigation shortly after the July 27 explosion at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. The blast killed one person and injured more than 100 others.

The former security guard was later cleared of the crime, but attorneys quickly claimed that Jewell's civil rights were violated because he waived his right to have a lawyer present as part of the alleged training film.

"No one is claiming that the use of a ruse to encourage a suspect to talk is necessarily improper," Michael DeFeo, head of the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility, wrote in the memo, dated April 1.

DeFeo said, however, that Jewell's Miranda warnings were "deceptively presented as part of the framework of a training video."

Jack Martin, Jewell's attorney, told the Atlanta paper that the memo was a "good thing" indicating "the FBI has enough sense not to try and defend the indefensible."

The FBI has said that since Jewell was not officially in custody, reading him his Miranda rights was not legally required.

DeFeo said in his memo, however, that constitutional warnings are not adequately conveyed "by telling a suspect that he is and actor ... and that he is being presented Miranda warnings 'just like it's (a) real official interview.'"

Five FBI agents have been notified of possible disciplinary actions for their roles in the investigation, the newspaper reported. The memo, addressed to all FBI personnel, cautions employees to "please wait for the facts."

 

Special Section:

• CNN's Olympic Bombing Main Page

Related stories:

• 'I am not the Olympic Park bomber' - October 28, 1996
• Friends, former co-workers aroused FBI suspicions of Jewell - October 28, 1996
• Olympic bomb chronology - October 28, 1996
• Why the government considered Jewell a suspect - October 28, 1996
• Former Olympic bombing suspect to hold news conference - October 28, 1996
• Olympic bombing suspect cleared, threatens to sue - October 26, 1996
• More agents assigned to Olympic bombing - October 24, 1996
• Olympic Park bombing suspect answers FBI questions - October 8, 1996
• FBI drops 24-hour watch on Olympic bombing suspect - October 1, 1996

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