TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Medical Examiner Stands By Sickle-Cell Trait Finding

ADVERTISEMENT

By MELISSA NELSON The Associated Press

Published: October 11, 2007

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - The medical examiner who performed the first autopsy on a 14-year-old boy who died after an altercation with boot camp guards told jurors Wednesday he found no signs of serious injury on the teenager's body.

Video of guards hitting and kneeing Martin Lee Anderson a day before his death drew outrage, especially in light of Charles Siebert's conclusion that the teen died of complications from a previously undiagnosed blood disorder.

Siebert repeated those findings Wednesday and said that although it seemed 'counterintuitive,' the strikes were actually arousing Anderson and 'probably keeping him alive.'

Siebert, who examined Anderson's body the day he died, testified in the manslaughter trial of the seven guards and a nurse of the now-closed camp.

He said the cause of death was internal hemorrhaging brought on by sickle cell trait, which can hinder cells carrying oxygen during physical stress.

Prosecutors say the guards suffocated Anderson by covering his mouth and making him inhale ammonia; a second autopsy by another doctor supports that argument. Prosecutors also say guards failed to respond to the boy's medical distress.

Defense attorneys, however, contend that sickle cell trait was the cause of death and that their clients followed policy in trying to control a juvenile offender.
Defense attorneys rested their case late Wednesday after Siebert's testimony and that of a sickle cell expert. Closing arguments are to begin this morning.

Anderson was 'beyond the point of return' when he collapsed on the exercise field while running laps, Siebert said.

Defense 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. He said no.

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

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

Siebert's initial finding that Anderson died solely of sickle call trait led to a widespread public outcry and was among the issues that prompted the governor to appoint a special prosecutor, who ordered the second autopsy.

Also Wednesday, Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet ordered the boy's father, Robert Anderson, to leave the courtroom after he supposedly made noises. He said Anderson could continue watching the trial on a video feed in another room.

The judge said Anderson and others made noises throughout the trial, which started last week. Anderson's family sat in the front of the courtroom; the noises Overstreet complained of were not heard by reporters in the back.

During the lunch break, Anderson said 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.

The boy's mother earlier left the courtroom in tears as a videotape of the guards overpowering the teen played and a defendant described how he hit the boy while he was limp on the ground.

'I cannot take it,' Gina Jones sobbed before leaving.

The guards and nurse face as many as 30 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT