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.

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."

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.

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.

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.