TIMELINE

January 5, 2006

Martin Lee Anderson's first day at the Bay County boot camp. He collapses after an altercation with the guards and is rushed to Bay Medical Center by ambulance at about 9:45 a.m. He is later life-flighted to Sacred Heart Hosptial in Pensacola.

January 6, 2006

Anderson dies around 1:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

February 13, 2006

CNN and the Miami Herald file a lawsuit for the surveillance tape from the boot camp to be released.

February 15, 2006

Anderson's parents hold a news conference asking for the release of the video. The National Black Caucus of Legislators and the NAACP join their efforts.

February 16, 2006

The results of the first autopsy by Dr. Charles Siebert of the 14th Judicial Circuit are released. Siebert says Anderson died from complications of sickle cell trait, a hereditary condition. The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the FBI open a federal probe into the case.

February 17, 2006

The surveillance video is released showing the approximately 30 minute confrontation between Anderson and the guards. Some medical experts begin disputing Dr. Siebert's cause of death.

February 21, 2006

The Bay County Sheriff's Office gives a 90-day notice to the Department of Juvenile Justice that they will be shutting down the boot camp. State Attorney for the 14th Judicial Circuit, Steve Meadows, steps aside and requests a special prosecutor to oversee the case. Gov. Jeb Bush appoints Mark Ober of the 13th Judicial Circuit.

March 10, 2006

Anderson's family exhumes his body to have a second autopsy performed.

March 13, 2006

Second autopsy performed.

March 14, 2006

Preliminary results from the second autopsy released. Doctors say Anderson did not die from sickle cell trait.

March 28, 2006

E-mails between Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell and Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen surface causing another controversy in the boot camp investigation. Tunnell was Bay County's sheriff when the boot camp first opened in 1994.

March 30, 2006

The FDLE is removed from the case by Ober's office.

April 6, 2006

The Bay County boot camp shuts its doors for good.

April 20, 2006

Tunnell resigns without giving a reason, but the move comes after widely published reports of a joke he made about the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Senator Barack Obama, who were coming to Tallahassee for a protest.

May 2, 2006

Full results of the second autopsy are released. Dr. Vernard Adams, medical examiner for the 13th Circuit, disputes Siebert’s autospy results, saying that Anderson died of suffocation because the guards blocked his airways and ammonia capsules held under his nose caused his airways to be blocked further.

July 12, 2006

Anderson's family files a $40 million lawsuit against the Bay County Sheriff's Office and Department of Juvenile Justice.

Augsut 9, 2006

Medical Examiners Commission votes to put Siebert on probation after an audit reveals 42 errors, mostly clerical, in his past autopsies.

November 20, 2006

Former DJJ employee Stephen Meredith files a lawsuit against DJJ. Meredith claims he was fired because he wouldn't help cover up Anderson's death.

November 28, 2006

Ober announces charges against the seven guards and one nurse. Each is charged with one count of manslaughter of a child.

March 27, 2007

The Bay County Sheriff's Office settles the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Anderson's family for $2.425 million. The state is expected to pay a remaining $5 million to the teen's parents.

May 23, 2007

Gov. Charlie Crist signs a claims bill, giving Anderson's parents a total $5 million settlement from the state. The same day, the Medical Examiners Commission votes not to recommend Siebert for reappointment when his term ends on June 30.

June 13, 2007

Medical Examiners Commission votes to remove Dr. Siebert from office over his work in the Martin Anderson autopsy. Specifically, the commission questions whether he actually performed some of the observations / procedures noted in the report. The complaint accuses Siebert of negligence in his duties, in violation of Florida law.

June 19, 2007

State Attorney Steve Meadows appoints Siebert as interim medical examiner.

September 24, 2007

Jury selection scheduled to begin. The Bay County Clerk of Courts office summons 1,450 residents to the Marina Civic Center over a week of proceedings.

October 3, 2007

The trial for the eight defendants begins.

Additionally (added by CAICA):

October 12, 2007

All eight defendants were acquitted; Florida University students protest

Tense Moments After Boot Camp Acquittal

October 13, 2007
By Melissa Nelson

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Tensions ran high after eight former boot camp workers were acquitted of manslaughter in the death of a 14-year-old inmate who was videotaped being punched and kicked.

The case sparked outrage and spelled the end of Florida's system of juvenile boot camps, but it took a jury just 90 minutes Friday to decide that the death of Martin Lee Anderson was not a crime.

Anger over the verdict was obvious outside the courtroom, where bystanders screamed "murderer" at former guard Henry Dickens as he described his relief at the verdict.

"I am truly, truly sorry this happened. Myself, I love kids," said Dickens, 60. He said Anderson "wasn't beaten. Those techniques were taught to us and used for a purpose."

Anderson died a day after being hit and kicked by Dickens and six other guards as a nurse watched, a 30-minute confrontation that drew protests in the state capital.

The defendants testified they followed the rules at a get-tough facility where young offenders often feigned illness to avoid exercise. Their attorneys said that Anderson died not from rough treatment, but from a previously undiagnosed blood disorder.

The boy's mother, Gina Jones, stormed out of the courtroom. "I cannot see my son no more. Everybody see their family members. It's wrong," she said.

Anderson's family repeatedly sat through the painful video as it played during testimony. They had long sought a trial, claiming local officials tried to cover up the case. The conservative Florida Panhandle county is surrounded by military bases and residents are known for their respect for law and order.

"You kill a dog, you go to jail," said Gina Jones' lawyer, Benjamin Crump, outside court. "You kill a little black boy and nothing happens."

The guards, who are white, black and Asian, stood quietly as the judge read the verdicts. The all-white jury was escorted away from the courthouse and did not comment.

Special prosecutor Mark Ober said in a statement he was "extremely disappointed."

"In spite of these verdicts, Martin Lee Anderson did not die in vain," the statement read. "This case brought needed attention and reform to our juvenile justice system."

The defendants faced up to 30 years in prison had they been convicted of aggravated manslaughter of a child. The jury also decided against convicting them of lesser charges, including child neglect and culpable negligence.

Officials from the Department of Justice in Washington and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced they were reviewing the state's prosecution. Defense attorneys, however, said they considered a federal civil-rights case to be unlikely.

"The Department of Justice has yet another opportunity, unfortunately, to demonstrate to America's minority populations that law enforcement officials acting outside the laws of this nation will be held accountable, that the misdeeds of a few rogue officers won't be allowed to tarnish the good work of the vast majority and that any guilty officers' conduct will be strongly scrutinized and met with remedial action rather than a wink and a nod," said NAACP Interim President & CEO Dennis Courtland Hayes.

"With a 90-minute verdict after a three-week trial (in the state case), it would be the same result," said attorney Bob Sombathy, who represents ex-guard Patrick Garrett.

Aside from hitting Anderson, the guards dragged him around the military-style camp's exercise yard and forced him to inhale ammonia capsules in what they said was an attempt to revive him. The nurse stood by watching.

Defense attorneys argued that the guards properly handled what they thought was a juvenile offender faking illness to avoid exercising on his first day in the camp. He was brought there for violating probation for stealing his grandmother's car and trespassing at a school.

The defense said Anderson's death was unavoidable because he had undiagnosed sickle cell trait, a usually harmless blood disorder that can hinder blood cells' ability to carry oxygen during physical stress.

Prosecutors said the eight defendants neglected the boy's medical needs after he collapsed while running laps. They said the defendants suffocated Anderson by covering his mouth and forcing him to inhale ammonia.

Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, when he was taken off life support, a day after the altercation. The case quickly grew and shook up the state's boot camp and law enforcement system amid the boy's family alleging a cover-up.

An initial autopsy by Dr. Charles Siebert, the medical examiner for Bay County, found Anderson died of natural causes from sickle cell trait. A second autopsy was ordered and another doctor concluded that the guards suffocated Anderson through their repeated use of ammonia capsules and by covering his mouth.

Anderson's death led to the resignation of Florida Department of Law Enforcement chief Guy Tunnell, who established the camp when he was Bay County sheriff.

Then-Gov. Jeb Bush had been a strong supporter of the juvenile boot camps, but after Anderson's death he backed the Legislature's move to shut down the system and put more money into a less militaristic program.

The Legislature agreed to pay Anderson's family $5 million earlier this year to settle civil claims.

Boot Camp Death Verdict Sparks Outrage

All-White Jury Delivers 'Not Guilty' Verdict in Beating Death of Black Teen

October 13, 2007

A verdict in Florida has angered a community and raised questions about race and justice.

A jury has acquitted eight former boot camp workers in the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson. He died one day after his videotaped beating that sparked outrage and brought an end to Florida's boot camps.

But the victim's family is not satisfied with the closing of the boot camps. They are furious over the ruling and say there was more than enough evidence to convict the guards.

"There was enough evidence," Anderson's father, Robert Anderson, told GMA's Kate Snow. "It was there in black and what-- What do you need a rocket science? I'm sick of this crap."

It took the jury just 90 minutes to decide that the kicking and punching of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson by eight boot camp workers, captured on video, was not a crime.

Judge Michael Overstreet of the Bay County Circuit Court delivered the verdict against each defendant: "The defendant is not guilty. "

The seven boot camp guards and one nurse had been charged with manslaughter after Anderson died the day after being kicked and punched by the guards.

The defense argued that the rough treatment was routine procedure in the get-tough juvenile facility, and that the guards implemented it when Anderson was thought to be faking illness.

An autopsy found he had a previously undiagnosed blood disorder. The defense argued that is what caused his death. The all-white jury agreed.

"This is like adding insult to injury," Benjamin Crump, attorney for Anderson's mother, Gina Jones, said on "Good Morning America" of the defense's argument that sickle cell anemia played a role in Anderson's death.

He added that they had hoped for more diversity on the jury -- African-Americans who are familiar with sickle cell anemia and what it can and cannot do.

"You kill a dog, you go to jail," Crump said on the courtroom steps just after the verdict was delivered. "You kill a little black boy, nothing happens."

Anderson was in custody for joyriding in his grandmother's car. His family was devastated by the verdict -- and angry.

"Everything was in black-and-white [on] the video," Gina Jones said on the court room's steps. "How the hell they going to let them walk away?"

After more than two years of scrutiny, the guards and the nurse said they felt exonerated.

"[The jurors looked at] the evidence, and if you can get passed the emotion, all unanimously decided they were not guilty," said Robert Sombathy, attorney for guard Patrick Garrett.

That wasn't good enough for several hundred college students, who descended on Tallahassee, Fla.'s state capitol building, to protest the verdict.

One protestor said, "If you look at the video, I think it's really clear that they beat this child to death, and I think they're guilty."

It is not clear that there will be grounds for appeal. As a result of public outrage, Florida closed down all of its get-tough boot camps and opted for a less militaristic approach to juvenile justice.

Boot camp staff cleared of killing teenager

October 13, 2007
By Tom Leonard

Seven former boot camp guards and a nurse have been acquitted of manslaughter concerning the death of a 14-year-old boy who was hit and kicked in a videotaped altercation.

Martin's mother, Gina Jones (centre) stormed out of the courtroom after the verdict

An all-white jury took about 90 minutes to clear the defendants of killing Martin Lee Anderson, a black teenager who collapsed while running laps on his first day at the camp in Florida.

Prosecutors said the guards – who are white, black and Asian – neglected Martin by ignoring his medical needs and suffocated him by forcing him to inhale ammonia.

In the video, shown repeatedly during the trial in Panama City, Florida, the guards could be seen striking the boy with their fists and knees.

They also dragged him around the military style camp's exercise yard and forced him to inhale ammonia capsules in what they said was an attempt to revive him. The nurse stood by and watched.

Martin's mother, Gina Jones (centre) stormed out of
the courtroom after the verdict

The verdict came shortly after the publication of a US Congress report which catalogued widespread brutality, including the deaths of at least 10 children, in such camps.

Martin's mother, Gina Jones, stormed out of the courtroom after the verdict. The family had long sought a trial after they alleged that authorities initially tried to cover up the death in January 2006.

The incident sparked outrage and prompted Florida lawmakers to close down all military-style juvenile camps.

Acquittals in boot camp death ignite protests

October 13, 2007
By Brent Kallestad

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Justice was denied when the defendants in the Martin Lee Anderson manslaughter trial were acquitted in Panama City by a jury that needed only 90 minutes to decide, black lawmakers said Friday.

The acquittals ignited street protests in the capital that disrupted rush hour traffic.

By mid-afternoon, about 200 people — many from the historically black Florida A&M University nearby — were protesting the acquittals outside the Capitol, about 120 miles from Panama City.


Protestors walk arm in arm down a Tallahassee street
protesting the verdict in the Martin Lee Anderson case
on Friday.

The group then moved to a busy downtown intersection and sat down in the street, disrupting traffic.

"No justice. No peace!" they chanted.

The group first ignored pleas to not block traffic from two of the community's black leaders, Tallahassee Mayor John Marks and Florida A&M President James Ammons.

"I ain't going nowhere," responded Danyell Shackelford, a 23-year-old Florida State University student and Army veteran who served in Kuwait. "That's not what you sent me to war for."

But later, facing the prospect of arrests for blocking traffic, the protesters agreed to disband, but with a condition.

"Give them one week for the United States attorney to meet with us," FAMU student Phillip Agnew, 22, of Chicago told the protesters. "And give us a timeline for when some charges will be filed — or we will be back."

Black lawmakers in town for special sessions on a budget cut and property taxes, were upset that no blacks were included on the jury.

"All white jury. Why in Bay County?" asked Rep. Joyce Cusack, D-DeLand. "One of the most prejudiced areas in this state and I don't apologize for saying that. Here we are in the year 2007 that we still, we still are not treated fairly and with dignity."

Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, echoed the comments.

"I didn't think that you could get a conviction in Bay County, and my assumption was correct," he said.

"It's almost if they've declared open season on black boys in Florida," state Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, said.

"Ninety minutes of deliberation for a child's life, a child who we saw beaten to death on videotape over and over again?" asked Wilson. "That's un-American. That is racist, discriminatory, bigotry."

However, officials from the Department of Justice in Washington and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced they were reviewing the state's prosecution.

"I certainly hope there will be another option," said Rep. Frank Peterman Jr., D-St. Petersburg. "A higher court of law will judge this case at another level (so) that we will get real justice that will happen really soon."

Gov. Charlie Crist said he had already been informed by the Justice Department that it plans to review the case.

The Legislature, with Crist's encouragement, agreed to pay Anderson's family $5 million earlier this year to settle civil claims.

"I don't know what type of message that Bay County is trying to send to the state of Florida and to the rest of the country, but certainly this is not justice," said Rep. Terry Fields, D-Jacksonville.

"Poor Martin, there's no justice for him," Wilson added. "I'm just hoping the federal government now will take over the case, do further investigation because his civil rights and everything else was abridged in this."

Acquittal Fits the Pattern in Boot Camp Deaths

October 12, 2007
By Patrick J. Lyons

It took only 90 minutes today for a jury in Panama City, Fla., to decide that the juvenile boot-camp instructors who beat, kicked and kneed a 14-year-old boy, Martin Lee Anderson, were not guilty of killing him. A nurse at the camp was acquitted as well.
Press reports have noted that the jury was all white and the boy was black, and suggested that there was a racial element to the decision. (Some of the defendants were white, some black, and one was Asian.)

There was also conflicting medical testimony presented at the trial, with some witnesses saying that sickle-cell disorder — and not the actions of the guards and the nurse, which were seen in court in surveillance videotape from the camp — was the main reason the boy collapsed and died.

Even so, the jury’s decision fit with a longstanding pattern: When a youth who has been sent to one of these programs dies or is badly abused, the odds are that no one will be held responsible.

Just this week, a federal government report came to that conclusion after studying hundreds of complaints of abuse, torture, horrific conditions and deaths at juvenile boot camps, as Diana Jean Schemo wrote in The New York Times on Thursday:

The report, by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, examined the cases of 10 teenagers who died while at programs in six states, finding “significant evidence of ineffective management” and “reckless or negligent operating practices.” The report detailed evidence that teenagers were starved, forced to eat their own vomit, and to wallow for hours in their own excrement.

In one instance, a boy was so dehydrated that he ate dirt to survive, according to witnesses and an autopsy.

Investigators also found that owners and employees were seldom sent to prison, even when teenagers died in their care. Five of these programs are still in operation, some under new names or in other states.

The G.A.O. report, which refers to the boot camps as “residential treatment programs” for “troubled youth,” is posted in its entirety here (pdf) and summarized here (html).

As Ms. Schemo reported, the boot-camp industry has insisted for years that accusations of mistreatment and worse are, in the words of a trade group, “the noisy complaints of a few individuals.” (The trade group doesn’t call them boot camps, either, at least in its name: the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs.)

The noise has sometimes made a difference. When past incidents, like the death of 16-year-old Aaron Bacon in Escalante, Utah, in 1994, broke into public view, some states moved to shut down the worst operators, step up oversight of the camp programs and improve conditions in them, and the Anderson case has spurred such an effort in Florida. But in other states, the camps remain completely unregulated, and critics say it is only a matter of time before the next Aaron Bacon or Martin Lee Anderson hits the headlines.

Guards, nurse acquitted of manslaughter in boot camp case

October 12, 2007
The Associated Press

PANAMA CITY, Florida: Eight former boot camp workers were acquitted of manslaughter in the death of a 14-year-old boy who was videotaped being punched and kicked. The scene sparked outrage and changes in the Florida juvenile system, but it took jurors just 90 minutes to decide it was not a crime.

Anger over the verdict was obvious outside the courtroom Friday, where bystanders screamed "murderer" at former guard Henry Dickens as he described his relief at the verdict.

Martin Lee Anderson died a day after being hit and kicked by Dickens and six other guards as a nurse watched, a 30-minute confrontation that drew protests in the state capital and spelled the end of Florida's system of juvenile boot camps.

"I am truly, truly sorry this happened. Myself, I love kids," said Dickens, 60. He added that Anderson "wasn't beaten. Those techniques were taught to us and used for a purpose."

The defendants testified that they followed the rules at a get-tough facility where young offenders often feigned illness to avoid exercise. Their attorneys said that Anderson died not from rough treatment, but from a previously undiagnosed blood disorder.

The boy's mother, Gina Jones, stormed out of the courtroom. "I cannot see my son no more. Everybody see their family members. It's wrong," she screamed.

"You kill a dog, you go to jail," said her lawyer, Benjamin Crump. "You kill a little black boy and nothing happens." He spoke outside court, which is across the street from the now-closed Bay County boot camp.

Anderson's family repeatedly sat through the painful video as it played during testimony. They had long sought a trial, claiming local officials tried to cover up the case. The conservative Florida Panhandle county is surrounded by military bases and residents are known for their respect for law and order.

The guards, who are white, black and Asian, stood quietly as the judge read the verdicts. The all-white jury was escorted away from the courthouse and did not comment.

Special prosecutor Mark Ober said in a statement he was "extremely disappointed," but added, "In spite of these verdicts, Martin Lee Anderson did not die in vain. This case brought needed attention and reform to our juvenile justice system."

The defendants would have faced up to 30 years in prison had they been convicted of aggravated manslaughter of child. The jury also decided against convicting them of lesser charges, including child neglect and culpable negligence.

Officials from the Department of Justice in Washington and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced they were reviewing the state's prosecution. Defense attorneys, however, said they considered a federal civil-rights case to be unlikely.

Aside from hitting Anderson, the guards dragged him around the military-style camp's exercise yard and forced him to inhale ammonia capsules in what they said was an attempt to revive him. The nurse stood by watching.

Defense attorneys argued that the guards properly handled what they thought was a juvenile offender faking illness to avoid exercising on his first day in the camp. He was brought there for violating probation for stealing his grandmother's car and trespassing at a school.

The defense said Anderson's death was unavoidable because he had undiagnosed sickle cell trait, a usually harmless blood disorder that can hinder blood cells' ability to carry oxygen during physical stress.

Closing Arguments Underway In Boot Camp Trial

(CBS4)

October 11, 2007


BAY COUNTY Closing arguments are underway in the trial of seven guards and a nurse charged in the manslaughter death of a boy at a Florida boot camp.

During his time before the jury, the prosecutor argued that the guards and nurse ignored common sense and good judgment in an altercation with 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson. A 30 minute video tape of the altercation shows that guards repeatedly hit, kneed and dragged Anderson around after he collapsed while running laps at the camp. The nurse stood by watching.
Martin Lee Anderson's mother,
Gina Jones

Wednesday, Anderson's mother, Gina Jones, left the courtroom in tears as a camp guard described how he had hit the boy. Also, the judge in the case banned the boy's father from the courtroom after he made noises throughout the trial.

The case helped prompt Florida to close its juvenile boot camps.

The camps were designed to discourage juvenile offenders from becoming adult felons.

In Washington D.C., House panel has begun looking into charges of child abuse and neglect at residential treatment facilities, or boot camp facilities, across the nation.

Testimony is expected from parents whose children have died in boot-camp programs. The lawmakers will consider whether the privately run facilities should fall under federal regulation.

Boot Camp Trial - Day Six of Testimony - A Long Day in Court

WJHG News Channel 7
Oct 11, 2007
Reporter: Kristen Berset

Last Day of Boot Camp Testimony

Jurors in the Martin Lee Anderson boot camp case heard the final testimony Wednesday, including 2 key medical experts who say Anderson died of natural causes. It was another emotion packed day.

It was a day filled with drama at the trial of 8 former Bay County Boot Camp employees charged in the death of the 14 year old Anderson. Presiding Judge Michael Overstreet warned the audience several times about making comments and noises. He then ordered several out of the courtroom.

"There's been complaints that ya'll have been making noises through this trial. I've gotten them again this morning. I gave you a fair warning yesterday. Do Not return to this courtroom."

One of those banned from the courtroom Wednesday afternoon was Anderson's father, Robert Anderson. Earlier that morning Martin Anderson's mother, Gina Jones, left the court room sobbing as a former Drill Instructor described striking the teen's arm.

Defendant, Joseph Walsh the second, was taken to Bay Medical Center after suffering a panic attack. But after a short recess, the defense called it's key witness to the stand.

"Dr. Seibert what is Anderson cause of death?" “He died from complications of sickle cell trait."

Interim Bay County Medical Examiner Dr Charles Siebert performed the initial autopsy on Anderson the day after he died.

"Did holding ammonia to his nose and a hand over his mouth and forcing him to breath contribute to his death? No it did not"

Sieberts findings have been widely criticized, "It's about the truth. You are trying to protect your reputation - your career.” “No Sir, My reputation and career in this state is in the trash."

So much so the state asked for another autopsy performed by Dr Vernard Adams of Tampa. And after Adams reported that Anderson died from suffocation by the drill instructors, Dr. Siebert says he was asked to meet with Adams, state prosecutor Pam Bondi, the Anderson’s and their civil lawyer Benjamin Crump.

"As soon as I walked in they said so you ready to change your death certificate? I said not with the evidence I have seen, I'm not. Then discussion continued with Dr. Baden, Ms. Bondi and Mr. Crump and they told me it'll be okay. We'll just say you didn’t have all the information at the time."

But Dr. Siebert stood by his findings.

"If not for sickle cell trait would Anderson have survived the boot camp that day?” “ Yes"

And so does Sickle Cell expert Dr Randy Eichner from the University of Oklahoma.

"In your opinion did Martin Lee Anderson die as a result of sickle cell exertion collapse?" “Yes.”

”How certian are you?” “As close to 100% as you can be in medicine."

The testimony phase of the trial ended Wednesday night after a very long day in the court room.

Court resumes Thursday at 10 am for closing arguments.

MARTIN LEE ANDERSON: Boot Camp Trial Day 7

WMBB News 13 - Florida
Thursday, Oct 11, 2007

Martin Lee Anderson: Full boot camp trial coverage

Panama City, FL - Closing arguments take place today in the case against eight former boot camp employees.

Henry Dickens, Charles Enfinger, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck, Charles Helms, Henry McFadden, Kristin Schmidt, and Joseph Walsh are charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child after the January 2006 death of a juvenile offender.

Martin Anderson, 14, died the day after he collapsed during exercises on his first day at the Bay County boot camp. If convicted, the defendants face up to 30 years in prison.

The defense rested its case as testimony ended Wednesday night about 7:30 p.m.

After the defense rested, Judge Michael Overstreet told the jury they deserved some rest, so he said court would begin today at 10:00 a.m. Closing arguments are the only event scheduled.

Before closing arguments began, Judge Overstreet explained one of jurors had fallen ill, and attorneys had agreed he should be released to seek medical treatment. He also stated defendant Joseph Walsh, who had to be taken to the hospital after become sick yesterday, would not be in court today as a result.

Mike Sinacore began closing arguments for the prosecution. "By 1:52 a.m. January 6, 2006, Martin Lee Anderson was dead. But he really died January 5th. He died at the hands and under the care of the defendants," Sinacore told jurors.

He said this case isn't about Bay County versus Hillsborough County. He told the jury this is about the jury giving their best effort to reach a decision.

Sinacore then proceeded to show the jury clips from the surveillance video of the Anderson incident, including all three ammonia capsule applications the prosecution says helped suffocate the teen.

He also presented a timeline of the incident, along with some of the definitions of child neglect and culpable negligence.

Sinacore was still presenting arguments at 12:15 p.m. "It’s not a coincidence that right at the time ammonia had been applied for 5 minutes, after ammonia had been applied two previous times … that all those things combined, it just so happens that the culmination of one ammonia application after another was that Martin Lee Anderson happened to go into a coma after his first sickle cell collapse. If you don’t believe they didn’t contribute to the death, that’s what you have to believe," Sinacore told the jury.

Court broke for lunch at 12:45 p.m. and resumed at 1:45 p.m. Sinacore spoke for a few minutes, ending by asking the jury to consider all the evidence and find the defendants guilty as charged.

Bob Sombathy began speaking for the defense around 1:50 p.m. Sombathy pointed out that Dr. Vernard Adams, the Tampa medical examiner who says Anderson died from suffocation at the hands of the defendants, admitted under oath that the medical evidence did point to sickle cell collapse, but he used the video tape to come to his conclusion.

Around 2:30 p.m., Jonathan Dingus took over for the defense. "The doctors at Bay Medical and Sacred Heart didn’t even know he had it. If they didn’t catch it, how can you expect these men and this woman to know what exertional sickle cell attack is?" Dingus asked the jury.

Defense attorney Bob Pell, who repesents Walsh, began at about 2:45 p.m. He pointed out the contradictions between Dr. Adams' testimony and that of Dr. Randy Eichner, a hematologist and sickle cell expert who was the defense's last witness.

"Dr. Adams says it’s common sense, if you’re blocking part of the mouth, you’re blocking part of the airway. Dr. Eichner says take a deep breath through your nose, take a deep breath through your mouth. It’s the same volume... That’s a red herring. He could’ve run that with masking tape over his mouth and still gotten air," said Pell.

Schmidt's lawyer, Ashley Benedik, and Jim White also addressed the jury.

Waylon Graham, who represents Helms, then talked about the publicity surrounding the case.

Walter Smith and then Hoot Crawford ended closing arguments for the the defense. Crawford reminded the jury that justice could be served by a not guilty verdict. His closing arguments ended with a video showing clips from testimony given during the trial.

The prosecution was allowed the chance to present a rebuttal closing argument. Prosecutor Scott Harmon said the defendants are not the victims in this case.

"That 14 year old boy is never going to grow up, he's never going to do the thing everyone else has done," said Harmon.

Closing arguments ended around 7:00 p.m. The judge then dismissed the jury and asked them to return at 9:00 a.m. The jury will be given their instructions and allowed to deliberate.

Martin Anderson's father was present for closing arguments. Robert Anderson had been in a group of several people ordered out of the courtroom by the judge yesterday for making comments during testimony. Court officials say Judge Overstreet has allowed Robert Anderson to return to the courtroom for the rest of the trial, but he is the only one of the group allowed to do so.

Former Bay County Sheriff and former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell was in the audience today. Tunnell founded the boot camp in 1994 when he was sheriff. Tunnell resigned from the FDLE in April 2006 after it was revealed he made comments about civil rights leaders who were protesting Martin Anderson's death.

Tough-Love Teen Camps A "Nightmare"

Article
The Skinny: Inquiry Into Boot Camps For Trouble Teens Finds Many Abuses, GAO Report Says
By Keach Heagy
October 10, 2007

For years, people have complained about abuses at so-called boot camps and other wilderness programs where frustrated parents send their troubled teens to get straightened out.

Today, USA Today gets a sneak peak at the findings from the first federal inquiry into the programs, and the results reveal a lot of tough love -- minus the love.

The Government Accountability Office cataloged 1,619 incidents of abuse in 33 states in 2005, according to a study to be released later today. It also looked at a sample of 10 deaths since 1990 and found untrained staff, inadequate food or reckless operations were factors. In half of those cases, the teens died of dehydration or heat exhaustion.

"This nightmare has remained an open secret for years," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif, who has designed a bill to encourage states to enact regulations. "Congress must act, and it must act swiftly."

Investigators counted thousands of cases of abuse, using Web sites and news reports. Five of the 10 programs where teens died are still operating.
The GAO didn't release names, but USA Today pieced together a few of the cases from news reports.

In one particularly haunting case, Anthony Haynes, 14, died in 2001 while at American Buffalo Soldiers boot camp in Arizona. Children there were fed an apple for breakfast, a carrot for lunch and a bowl of beans for dinner.

Haynes became dehydrated in 113-degree heat and vomited up dirt, according to witnesses. The program closed, and the director, Charles Long, was sentenced in 2005 to six years in prison for manslaughter.

Boot Camp Trial Examines Cause Of Death

CBS NEWS

Article
Examiner Who Performed first Autopsy Testifies Sickle Cell Trait Caused Teen's Death
October 10, 2007

(CBS/AP) The medical examiner who performed the first autopsy on a 14-year-old boy who died at a Florida juvenile boot camp testified Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of seven guards and a nurse that he found no signs of serious injury or trauma.

Martin Lee Anderson's cause of death was from internal hemorrhaging brought on from sickle cell trait, a previously undiagnosed blood disorder that can limit cells from carrying oxygen during physical stress, Dr. Charles Siebert testified.

Prosecutors say the guards suffocated Anderson during a beating by covering his mouth, making him inhale ammonia and failing to respond to his medical distress.

Earlier, Judge Michael Overstreet told the boy's father, Robert Anderson, to leave the courtroom, saying he was making noise. Anderson said during a lunch break he did not make any noises in court and blamed the disruption on a text message he said defense attorneys sent to someone seated near him.

Earlier Wednesday, the boy's mother, Gina Jones, sobbed loudly and briefly left the courtroom, saying "I cannot take it" as a guard described striking the teen's arm in a videotaped altercation. She declined to speak to reporters outside court.

The parents have repeatedly watched a video of the guards hitting and kneeing the limp, unresponsive boy.

The teen's death in 2006 and the 30-minute beating led Florida lawmakers to order that all such camps be shut down.

Guard Charles Enfinger described Wednesday the repeated hammer blows he delivered to Anderson's arm after the teen collapsed while running laps. Enfinger said that he and others were trying to "motivate" the boy.

Attorney Robert Sombathy asked Siebert whether "knee strikes, arm-bar takedowns, pressure points, ammonia capsules or yelling in loud voices," led to Anderson's death.

"No it did not," Siebert said.

Although it seemed "counterintuitive" the strikes were actually arousing Anderson and "probably keeping him alive," Siebert said.

Two medical experts, including one who performed a second autopsy after Anderson's body was exhumed as part of the investigation into his death, testified for the prosecution earlier in the trial that they believed the guards actions did contribute to Anderson's death.

One doctor said the Anderson died from a combination of his blood cells sickeling and from a lack of oxygen caused by the guards. A second doctor said the guards' clamping their hands over Anderson's mouth and depriving him of oxygen would have killed him without the underlying sickle cell trait.

Guard Henry McFadden testified that Anderson asked to be taken to a hospital during the 30-minute ordeal and told the guards he could not breathe or see. But he and other guards have said they thought the boy was faking his problems.

Also Wednesday, guard Joseph Walsh II testified that he noticed Anderson on the boy's first day at the camp because he used profanity.

"There is no profanity at the boot camp," Walsh said. "They are instructed not to speak without permission to speak."

Walsh said that began the chain of events, which ended when Anderson was carried off by paramedics on a stretcher.

When Anderson's body went limp, Walsh said, he suspected Anderson of feigning illness because that was something common among the youths in the camp.

"Had you seen this before in the boot camp? Was this a common tactic in the boot camp, to go completely limp like a rag doll," asked Robert Pell, Walsh's attorney.

Walsh said it was.

Walsh also said he threw the ammonia capsules he used on Anderson over the camp fence because they had the teen's saliva on them and he did not want to put them in his pocket.

The guards and nurse face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of aggravated manslaughter of a child.

This case has spurred action from a House panel that begin looking into charges of child abuse and neglect at residential treatment facilities.

Testimony is expected from parents whose children have died in boot-camp programs. The lawmakers will consider whether the privately run facilities should fall under federal regulation.

2nd Doctor Testifies About Teen's Death

Article

Associated Press
By MELISSA NELSON
October 5, 2007

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — The medical examiner who performed a second autopsy on a teen who died after a boot-camp altercation defended his findings on the witness stand Friday and said it didn't take a doctor to figure out the boy did not die of natural causes.

Dr. Vernard Adams, Hillsborough County's medical examiner, testified in the manslaughter trial of seven boot camp guards and a nurse charged with killing Martin Lee Anderson. The 14-year-old died a day after guards hit him in a 30-minute videotaped altercation at the Bay County sheriff's boot camp.

The first autopsy found that Anderson died after exercise brought on complications from sickle cell trait, a genetic blood disorder. Set against videotape of the guards repeatedly hitting the unresponsive boy, the finding outraged civil-rights activists and helped generate protests at the state Capitol.

In his autopsy and on the stand Friday, Adams said the guards suffocated Anderson by covering his mouth and forcing him to inhale ammonia fumes. He said sickle cell trait aggravated the problems Anderson was experiencing, but that he would have died even without the disorder.

"My opinion is there is enough suffocation going on here to kill anybody," Adams said.

Aside from the autopsy and an examination of Anderson's medical records, Adams said he spent hours watching an enhanced video of the altercation before determining the boy did not die from natural causes.

"It does not require a medical person to determine this. The video clearly shows his airway was obstructed by an external agency," Adams said.

Waylon Graham, attorney for guard Charles Helms, asked Adams whether he felt pressure to come to a different conclusion than the one reached by Dr. Charles Siebert, the Bay County medical examiner who did the initial autopsy.

Graham went over the vilification of Siebert by civil-rights groups, pressure from then-Gov. Jeb Bush — who appointed a special prosecutor in the case — and protesters marching in front of Adams' office, among other factors.

Here "you are a well-respected medical examiner and it is all coming down to this pinnacle, it is all focusing on you like a laser beam," Graham said in cross-examination of Adams.

Adams said he did not tailor his findings to satisfy the demands of anyone, including Bush, the NAACP or the special prosecutor, Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober.

Adams said he felt he would be criticized regardless of his findings and that he wouldn't wish the type of scrutiny experienced by Siebert on anyone.

"That's why I took my time (with the second autopsy)," he said.

Graham also suggested Adams was pressured by nationally known pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who consulted on the case on behalf of Anderson's family. He observed the second autopsy and said Anderson likely was suffocated during the confrontation.

Adams said he allowed Baden only to observe the 12-hour autopsy, and that Baden's fame did not influence his findings.

Defense attorneys have argued Anderson's death was unavoidable once he collapsed while running laps at the camp's exercise yard. They say sickle cell trait was the only cause.

The trait is a usually benign disorder generally found in one in eight African-Americans. It can cause blood cells to shrivel into a sickle shape and limit their ability to carry oxygen under stress.

Graham asked Adams whether his testimony contradicted that of Dr. Thomas Andrew, New Hampshire's chief medical examiner. He told jurors a day earlier that the death was caused by a chain of events that triggered the blood disorder's complications.

Adams said he differed from Andrew's findings "not very much."

"What I said was it was reasonably possible that sickle cell trait contributed to his death," Adams said.

Second autopsy scrutinized in third day of boot camp trial

Article
October 5, 2007
By David Angier
The News Herald

PANAMA CITY

The medical examiner who performed the second autopsy on Martin Lee Anderson’s body said today that his opinion as to the cause of death was a historical first because the situation surrounding Anderson’s death was one-of-a-kind.

Tampa Medical Examiner Vernard Adams said sickle cell trait played no — or little — role in Anderson’s death. His opinion conflicts with two state experts who testified Thursday that Anderson would have lived through his encounter with boot camp drill instructors if he did not have the hereditary blood disorder.

“What you see in the videotape,” Adams said, referring to a recording of the encounter between Anderson and the drill instructors on Jan. 5, 2006, “is sufficient to kill someone without sickle cell trait.”

Adams said his 12-hour second autopsy of Anderson’s body was not as informational as the videotape. The autopsy was mainly to rule out other potential causes of death and his opinion was not bolstered by anything he discovered in the examination.

“The actions of the guards, especially at the end of the tape, caused his death,” Adams said.

“Are you saying they smothered this young man to death?” defense attorney Waylon Graham asked him.

“Yes,” Adams replied.

Former boot camp drill instructors Henry Dickens, Charles Enfinger, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck, Charles Helms Jr., Henry McFadden Jr. and Joseph Walsh II, along with former camp nurse Kristin Schmidt, face charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child and 30 years in prison each if convicted as charged.

They’re accused of culpable negligence in 14-year-old Anderson’s death. Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, after collapsing during his initiation into the camp.

The trial, held inside the Bay County Juvenile Justice Courthouse on 11th Street, began

Wednesday and is expected to end Oct. 12 or 13. Testimony resumes at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Defense attorney Bob Sombathy said deaths from exertional sickle cell trait collapse are rare, but the number of recorded deaths by spasms caused by smelling salts is “one” — Anderson’s.

“This boot camp was the only place in the world where ammonia capsules were used in this way,” Adams said. “So where else could such a death occur?”

“So if your interpretation of the video is wrong, then your cause of death is wrong,” Sombathy said.

“Yes,” Adams said.

Graham asked Adams about the pressure he was under to come up with an alternative opinion than the highly criticized one offered by Panama City Medical Examiner Charles Siebert Jr.

Adams said he was aware of the way Siebert was “vilified” and said, “I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”

Adams said he was not motivated or pressured into a finding that would keep him from being criticized. He said he expected criticism and objected to Graham’s term “safe opinion.”

“No matter what I opined, I would be criticized from one quarter or another,” he said.

MORE NEWS: Medical examiner denies he was pressured to blame guards, nurse in teen's boot camp death

Article
By Emanuella Grinberg
Court TV

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — A medical examiner said Friday that he was aware of tremendous political pressure to "resolve" the case of a teen who died after an altercation with guards at a Florida boot camp for juvenile offenders.

But Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Vernard Adams insisted that the pressure did not influence his opinion that Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died from suffocation at the hands of eight boot camp employees.

"I wasn't just working for my county. I felt an obligation to do a good job for Florida," Adams said.

Drill instructors Henry Dickens, Charles Enfinger, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck, Charles Helms Jr., Henry McFadden Jr., Joseph Walsh and nurse Kristin Schmidt each face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of aggravated manslaughter of a person under 18 for the teen's death.

The eight defendants, ages 30 to 60, say Anderson provoked the encounter by refusing to participate in a 1.5-mile mandatory run to gauge his fitness.

A surveillance video of the altercation shows the guards manhandling the teen, covering his mouth and waving ammonia capsules in his face on three separate occasions, once for as long as five minutes, while Anderson appeared to pass in and out of consciousness.

The incident sparked a national debate over safety in the paramilitary-style boot camps, resulting in the closure of similar programs in Florida. A federal investigation is also pending into reports of child abuse at boot camps across the country.

Anderson's death also resulted in the dismissal of the state's top law enforcement agent, Guy Tunnell, who, as sheriff of Bay County in the 1990s, created the Bay County Boot Camp.

Adams was the second medical examiner to perform an autopsy on Anderson after he died on Jan. 6, 2006, less than 24 hours after entering the Bay County Boot Camp for violating his parole on a grand theft auto charge.

Charlie Siebert, the first pathologist to examine Anderson's body, concluded that he died of complications from sickle-cell trait, a genetic disorder that impedes the flow of oxygen in the blood.

His findings provoked allegations of a cover-up by the Bay County Sheriff's Office, which operated the boot camp in Panama City. In response, former Gov. Jeb Bush appointed a team of special prosecutors from Hillsborough County, who ordered the second autopsy.

Adams denied that the fate of Siebert, who faced public condemnation and lost his job after releasing his findings, had any effect on his report, as a defense lawyer for Helms suggested.

"You didn't want to wind up like Charlie Siebert?" attorney Waylon Graham asked as he paced across the courtroom. "So you wrote a safe report that insulated you from what Charles Siebert went through?"

"I could not know what the reaction was going to be," Adams said. "I had to assume that, no matter what I opined, I would be criticized from one quarter or another."

In a lively exchange with Graham, who has taken charge of most of the questioning of the state's witnesses, Adams also downplayed the attorney's characterization of the investigation as "the autopsy of the century."

Siebert was on hand for the examination, along with representatives from the state attorney's office and famed pathologist Michael Baden, a forensic consultant hired by the Anderson family, who testified in the murder trial of music producer Phil Spector.

Even though Baden was "kind of a pest," Adams said, he let him observe the proceedings, but refused his request to use the scalpel on the exhumed body.

Adams also denied that he was favoring Anderson's family by permitting Baden to attend while denying Siebert's request to have a medical examiner from Fort Myers accompany him.

"I didn't need extra bodies cluttering the room," Adams said, prompting gasps from both the defendants' supporters, sitting on one side of the room, and the Anderson family across the aisle.

Adams acknowledged that before he performed the autopsy in March 2006, Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober told him the governor was "leaning" on him to resolve the case.

But, Adams insisted, Ober never compelled him to reach a conclusion.

"He told me, 'You don't worry about that. Take your time. Do whatever you have to do,'" Adams said. "He didn't care what the outcome was, as long as there was an outcome of some kind."

Adams said he concluded that the teen died of suffocation arising from the guards' excessive use of ammonia capsules while they covered his mouth without giving him a chance to recover.

The doctor said the lack of oxygen prevented Anderson's blood from producing carbon dioxide, leading to a build-up of lactic acid in his blood that ultimately put him in an irreversible coma.

The pathologist acknowledged that the teen's sickle-cell condition aggravated the circumstances by further impeding the flow of oxygen. He insisted, however, that the guards' actions alone would have been enough to kill even a teen who did not have sickle-cell trait.

Defense lawyers contend that Anderson would have died regardless of the former boot camp employees' actions because of his condition, which they were unaware of.

"If Martin Anderson fell during the run because of sickle-cell trait, but for the actions of the guards, would he have lived?" assistant state attorney Michael Sinacore asked Adams.

"Yes," he testified. "No ammonia, no hands, no restraint ... there would be no opinion, because he is alive."

Adams said the guards' excessive use of ammonia made the case one of a kind.

His findings mirrored those of another state medical expert who testified Thursday that the use of the ammonia capsules were the "tipping point" in causing the teen's death.

On Friday, the jury learned that the highly concentrated ammonia capsules used by the guards were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use on children.

Toxicologist Cynthia Lewis-Younger testified that the toxic effects of ammonia increase with prolonged exposure and within a confined space.

Prosecutors say the guards covered Anderson's mouth and administered the ammonia on three occasions: once for 54 seconds, again for 57 seconds, and during a five-minute period that was broken up into three episodes.

Lewis-Younger testified that though there were no documented incidents of anyone dying from inhalation of ammonia capsules, she would not rule out the possibility.

The trial will resume Monday.

Isabelle Zehnder: CAICA: No blacks among boot-camp trial jurors

Potential jurors, top, wait to see if they are dismissed from jury duty in the boot-camp-death trial at the Marina Civic Center in Panama City on Wednesday.''It is unfortunate the pool is not more representative. It sounds like the defense got what they wanted as for a racial mix on the jury.'' Michael Seigel University of Florida's Levin College of Law professor

Article
September 27, 2007
By Stephen D. Price

PANAMA CITY - No black jurors were chosen for the boot-camp trial of seven drill instructors and a camp nurse charged in the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson.

Gina Jones, Anderson's mother who has long said she did not want the trial to happen in Bay County, was not happy with the jury's racial makeup.

''I'm very disappointed,'' she said.

Jury selection concluded Wednesday evening at the Marina Civic Center in the controversial, racially charged case, after three days in which attorneys went through a list of more than 1,400 potential jurors.

The trial will begin Oct. 3.

Anderson was black, two of the defendants are black, one is Asian and five are white. The case has divided opinion in Bay County largely along racial lines. Civil rights advocates around the state and country have called for ''justice'' for Anderson.

''It is unfortunate the pool is not more representative,'' said Professor Michael Seigel of the University of Florida's Levin College of Law and former Tampa Bay federal prosecutor. ''It sounds like the defense got what they wanted as for a racial mix on the jury.''

The county is 83 percent white and 11 percent black.

Charged with felony aggravated manslaughter of a child are Henry Dickens, Charles Enfinger, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck, Charles Helms Jr., Henry McFadden Jr., Joseph Walsh II and the camp nurse, Kristin Schmidt.

A jury of six will decide the trial's outcome, and four have been chosen as alternates. All the jurors are white except for one man who is Asian. Attorneys in the case and court officials would not say who will be on the jury of six and who will be alternates for the trial. The jury pool has four men and six women.

Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after he was hit, kicked and kneed by drill instructors at the Bay County boot camp, after he had collapsed while running laps. The incident was captured on videotape.

An initial autopsy said Anderson died from natural causes from complications caused by a blood disorder, sickle-cell trait. A second autopsy said he died from being suffocated when guards clamped his mouth shut and held ammonia tablets to his nose for several minutes.

Seigel said the racial makeup of the jury doesn't mean it won't judge the trial fairly, but added, ''This could be a factor if they're acquitted and if a federal prosecutor second-guesses the jury.''

U.S. Attorney Gregory Miller, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice are still investigating the case.

During jury selection, five black potential jurors were dismissed, mostly by defense attorneys. One 20-year-old woman was dismissed because she had a cousin who knew Anderson.

''I believe there is a close relation between her and Martin Lee Anderson,'' said defense attorney Walter Smith, who represents Enfinger. ''She has very little life experience. We generally want someone who has life experience.''

Assistant State Attorney Scott Harmon complained the defense had already struck down four blacks from the jury pool.

But Bay County Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet said, ''I believe there is a close relation between her and Martin Lee Anderson.''

Of the 10 jurors that made the cut, one man said he knew defendant Dickens' wife, and another said she knew one of the defense attorneys, Jonathan Dingus.

Another potential black juror was dismissed because defense attorneys said he was familiar with sickle-cell disease and may challenge their expert testimony.

''That's a bona fide concern for either side,'' Overstreet said, before dismissing that juror.

The trial will take place at the Bay County Juvenile Justice Courthouse where Overstreet has requested security escorts for defense attorneys and security at the courthouse for the defendants as they leave and enter.

MORE NEWS: Boot camp trial begins

October 4, 2007
Medical testimony dominates Day 1
By David Angier

PANAMA CITY

There were gasps and quiet moans Wednesday from audience members as they watched segments of the black and white video of boot camp employees striking and manhandling a limp Martin Lee Anderson.

“Oh, my God” often was repeated by some in the thick crowd of onlookers as prosecutor Pam Bondi played short excerpts from the video of Anderson’s first day at the boot camp on Jan. 5, 2006, and his last full day of life.

“The last conscious moment of Martin Lee Anderson’s life was with his mouth being covered by a hand and ammonia capsules shoved into his face as he struggled to breathe,” Bondi said.

Former boot camp drill instructors Henry Dickens, Charles Enfinger, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck, Charles Helms Jr., Henry McFadden Jr. and Joseph Walsh II, along with former camp nurse Kristin Schmidt, face charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child and 30 years in prison each if convicted as charged.

They’re accused of culpable negligence in 14-year-old Anderson’s death. Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, after collapsing during his initiation into the camp.

The trial, held inside the Bay County Juvenile Justice Courthouse on 11th Street, began Wednesday and is expected to end Oct. 12 or 13. Testimony resumes at 8:30 a.m.

In her opening statement, Bondi pointed out three episodes where the drill instructors used ammonia capsules, or “smelling salts,” on Anderson during the 23-minute encounter. She said one lasted 55 seconds, another 54 seconds and the third “well over five minutes with three separate applications.”

She said Anderson didn’t die from natural causes, as Panama City Medical Examiner Charles Siebert Jr. opined in the first of two autopsies. She said Anderson died from oxygen deprivation, the result of having his mouth covered and forced to inhale ammonia fumes. She said sickle cell trait, Siebert’s named cause of death, is a benign blood disorder.

“This was no accident,” Bondi said. “This was a child who was killed by what these eight defendants did and what they failed to do.”

Bob Sombathy, Garrett’s attorney, followed Bondi’s presentation and started by introducing each lawyer and defendant. He then explained the defense’s view of Anderson’s cause of death.

Sombathy said more than 100 people had died in military boot camps from sickle cell trait, as have 15 to 20 athletes and five college football players.

“It is real,” he said. “There’s a history to it. And all of these people had lived normal, healthy lives.”

Sombathy said the unique finding in this case was that of Dr. Vernard Adams, who performed the second autopsy on Anderson and concluded that drill instructors had suffocated him by forcing him to breathe ammonia fumes, which caused his vocal cords to spasm and close his airway.

“There has not ever been a case where ammonia capsules caused any serious injury to anybody,” Sombathy said. “Dr. Adams’ opinion is the first of its kind in the history of the world.”

Sombathy, and most of the other defense attorneys, told jurors there had to be some element of foresight that the guards’ actions would cause Anderson’s death. He said it was uncontested that none of the boot camp employees knew that Anderson had sickle cell trait.

Sombathy said jurors would hear from a hematologist who had witnessed people collapse from sickle cell trait during physical exertion.

“He described this as a classic exertional sickle cell collapse,” he said.

Witnesses

The day’s first witnesses mainly were medical personnel — a paramedic who first treated Anderson and doctors and nurses from Bay Medical Center’s emergency department. One of the issues closely discussed was at what time Anderson’s blood gases were tested.

Both sides want to establish this point because Anderson’s carbon dioxide level was below normal. Emergency department Dr. Jeff Appel said Wednesday he would have expected to see the carbon dioxide level in Anderson’s blood to be 20 or 30 points above normal if he had been suffocated into a coma; instead, it was 20 points below.

When someone stops breathing, his oxygen levels drop because he can’t get air in, but carbon dioxide levels rise because the body can’t get rid of it through exhalation.

Siebert explained the low carbon dioxide level in his autopsy report by saying that Anderson never stopped breathing; his blood, because of the sickled red blood cells, couldn’t absorb and transport oxygen properly but still was shedding carbon dioxide.

Adams explained the low level by saying that Anderson was able to “blow off” the excess carbon dioxide after the guards stopped suffocating him. If Anderson was “ventilated” — whereby a person or machine forced oxygen into his system and assisted him in getting rid of the carbon dioxide — at some point before his blood gases were tested, then his carbon dioxide level would have dropped faster.

Respiratory therapist Dr. Dennis Arnold said Anderson’s breathing was manually assisted for less than a minute before his blood was drawn for testing. Anderson then was hooked up to a respirator after the blood was tested.

Appel said he had no experience with exertional sickle cell trait collapse prior to Anderson, but insisted his treatment of Anderson would not have changed if he had known that Anderson had sickle cell trait.

Appel also said that the guards’ use of ammonia capsules, and whether they obstructed his mouth for any length of time, played no role in his treatment. Appel said he has used smelling salts hundreds of times in his career to revive patients and to test for malingering. He said he has never heard of them causing injury or death.

Videotape

The man who videotaped the encounter between the guards and Anderson was the first to take the stand. Antonio Jones, now a Panama City Beach police officer, said he was working the control booth the morning of Anderson’s collapse and recorded the incident while also logging the guards’ use of force.

He said he had the authority to call 9-1-1 or intercede on Anderson’s behalf if he saw the guards abusing him or signs of distress. Jones said he saw neither.

“You’re not accusing these men you just identified of any wrongdoing, are you?” defense attorney Jim White asked him, after Jones identified each defendant for the jury.

“No sir,” Jones said.