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Boot Camp Defendants Acquitted On All Counts

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 13, 2007

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PANAMA CITY, Fla. - The big cases don't go away quietly.

On Friday afternoon, a jury exonerated seven former drill instructors and a nurse, accused of manslaughter in the death of a 14-year-old youth offender.

Minutes afterward, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced his office would review all the evidence.

The legal counsel for the Florida division of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Chuck Hobbs, said he would petition the federal government to indict the acquitted defendants on civil rights charges. He evoked the name of Rodney King, recalling how Los Angeles police officers were acquitted in King's beating but later served time in federal prison.

"It's just that the life of a Martin Lee Anderson isn't worth the same as a Carlie Brucia; of a Jessica Lunsford," Hobbs told a small crowd at nearby Love Center Baptist Church.

The news of a federal investigation was not good for Henry Dickens, one of two black drill instructors charged in Anderson's death.

"I don't know what to think about that," Dickens said. "It looks like this is going to go on and on."

Dickens, a retired Navy master chief who grew up in the segregated South, said he was disappointed the NAACP continues to call for his conviction.

"Today's NAACP, the only thing they care about is race," he said. "That's not what Dr. Martin Luther King talked about. He talked about a world without race. We need to get away from race in this country. When a kid is born, he doesn't know the difference between black and white. Their parents teach them that. As long as the parents continue to teach that, we'll be divided."

In Tallahassee, news of the verdict sparked a protest by about 200 students from Florida A&M University, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College, many of whom left classes and headed to the Capitol. A handful of Democratic lawmakers met the students on the back steps of the Capitol to trade chants and speeches.

Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, told the crowd that she protested for civil rights 44 years ago as a FAMU student, and that little has changed. Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, yelled into a bullhorn that it's "open season on black children in Florida from this day forth."

"The message is, you can beat them, you can kick them, you can drag them, you can throw them to the ground, you can do anything you want to, and nothing, absolutely nothing will happen to you," she said.

At 5 p.m, the group moved from the back steps of the Capitol to in front of the old Capitol building. Lines of students stretched across the roadway. Anderson's 15-year-old sister, Startavia, offered the crowd a few words, which her emotions quickly choked off. Some of the same legislators who had pumped up the crowd earlier, along with Anderson family attorney Ben Crump, began pleading with the students to move off the roadways, for fear the youths would be arrested.

Instead, the crowd linked arms and marched several blocks north. Rows of cars backed up behind the demonstration, but police did not interfere.

Phillip Agnew, a 22-year-old FAMU student, announced the group was setting a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday for the U.S. Justice Department to meet with them.

Emotion Crept Into Court

In court, shortly before Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet read the verdict, he asked those in the courtroom to refrain from expressing emotion.

As Overstreet named each of the eight defendants, and as he followed with the words "not guilty," the sound of stifled weeping crept across the courtroom. Mostly, members of the defendants' families were trying, in vain, to withhold their relief.

Others in the courtroom were less able to control themselves.

Gina Jones, Anderson's mother, stood up and walked toward the courtroom door.

"They will see their family," she said. "I don't get to see my family no more. It's wrong!"

Minutes later, while addressing the media outside, Jones' disappointment turned to anger.

"How in the hell did they let them walk away!" she yelled.

The seven boot camp drill instructors and a camp nurse were charged with aggravated manslaughter. After seven days of testimony, the jury took two hours to acquit.

In January 2006, Anderson arrived at the Panama City boot camp, a juvenile diversion program, after violating probation. His probation stemmed from a joy ride in his grandmother's car. For her to collect the insurance, she had to turn him in to authorities.

Hours after arriving at the camp, Anderson slowly fell to the ground, unable to complete a 1.5-mile run. Several drill instructors wanted Anderson to finish. At first, they used pain pressure points and strikes to his forearm when he would not release a balled fist. When he began to faint, the instructors used ammonia capsules.

After 30 minutes, a nurse who had been monitoring the situation told them to call 911. Anderson had become unresponsive. He died early the next morning at a Pensacola hospital.

An autopsy completed in Bay County determined Anderson had died of natural causes: complications from sickle cell trait. The typically benign genetic disorder, common in blacks, can cause sudden death in people under extreme exertion.

The day after the medical examiner's report, a surveillance video was released that showed the 30-minute altercation. Through much of the video, the nurse looked on, her hands on her hips.

Then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober to handle the investigation to avoid a conflict with Bay County authorities. A year later, after a second autopsy found the instructors suffocated Anderson, the instructors and nurse were charged.

Anderson's family sued the state and Bay County. In settlement agreements, the state awarded the Andersons $5 million and Bay County awarded them $2.4 million.

Doctors' Testimony Helped Defense

Since Anderson's death, several of his family's supporters have said sickle cell trait is not a deadly disease.

At trial, however, doctors testifying for the defense and the prosecution said severe exertion sometimes can cause death in people with the trait.

Prosecutors argued the ammonia capsules, delivered while instructors held Anderson's mouth closed, caused or contributed to his death.

Defense attorneys maintain that Anderson would have died anyway. The drill instructors, the attorneys said, had no idea Anderson had a medical condition and did nothing to Anderson that was not approved in their training.

Waylon Graham, the attorney for instructor Charles Helms Jr., said he was happy with the verdict, but felt terrible for Anderson's family.

"I'm very sorry about what happened to their son," he said. "It was a true tragedy, but these men did not commit a crime."

He said some of them had to file for bankruptcy to pay their legal fees. Graham said that a local state representative, Jimmy Patronis, has said he will sponsor a bill for the state to pick up the expenses instead.

After the verdict, the judge asked all the defendants to leave the courthouse area.

Two stayed back: Dickens and Henry McFadden Jr. They were the only two black defendants.

McFadden said people who think the instructors are cold-hearted are short sighted. "Trust me," he said. "Every one of us feels bad about this. A child has died."

Had his child died, he said he would probably feel the same as Anderson's family.

"Emotionally, I could see how the family feels," he said. "Who could blame her?"

Bob Sombathy, a defense lawyer who represented drill instructor Patrick Garrett, said the scientific evidence was on their side. Still, he said, he felt the tide changed when the defendants took the witness stand and gave their sides.

"Everybody wished they could have gone back in time and done everything differently," he said. "But that doesn't make it a crime."

Verdict Cheers Medical Examiner

The drill instructors and nurse were not the only exonerated parties. Bay County Medical Examiner Charles Siebert also won a victory - if only a moral one.

After Siebert's ruling that sickle cell trait killed Anderson, the Florida Medical Examiner's Commission declined to recommend Siebert for another term. He was vilified by pundits nationally.

After Friday's verdict, he walked around the courthouse grounds with a smile. Asked how he felt, Siebert chuckled.

"Obviously happy," he said. "I'm glad people listened to the evidence for a change."
The Bay County state attorney appointed Siebert the interim medical examiner until a replacement can be found. Names are supposed to be submitted by December. He said he will see if his name appears as a candidate.
"Because of all the political pressure, because of the racial undertones and because of all the special interest groups, a lot of the true facts did not come out," Siebert said. "I had the truth behind me. I had the science behind me."

Dickens, who joined the boot camp as a drill instructor after retiring from a lifetime of Navy service, said he sees another tragedy in this case.

He's sorry this incident caused the closure of all the state's juvenile boot camps.

"Now these kids have nowhere to go," he said, "no one to help them. If I had one wish, it would be to have these boot camps back."

As Dickens spoke, a car drove by the courthouse and a young man yelled out the window, "Murderers!"

Dickens said it doesn't bother him.

"I'm beyond that now."

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

Key dates in the Martin Lee Anderson case:

Jan. 6, 2006: Martin Lee Anderson, 14, of Panama City, dies after being restrained at a Bay County juvenile boot camp. He collapsed after complaining of breathing problems.

Feb. 16: Bay County Medical Examiner Charles Siebert says Anderson died from internal bleeding caused by sickle cell trait, a blood disorder, and not from injuries suffered while being restrained.

Feb. 17: A videotape showing guards kicking and punching Anderson is released to the public and appears on national television.

Feb. 22: Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober is called upon to head an investigation of Anderson's death.

March 13: After Anderson's body is exhumed and a second autopsy performed, New York coroner Michael Baden, right, who observed the autopsy, discounts the sickle cell trait as the cause of death.

April 19: About 30 students from Florida A&M University, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College stage a sit-in at Gov. Jeb Bush's office. Leaders of the student group met with Bush; they remained in the Capitol overnight.

April 20: Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell resigns after criticism over the management of the initial investigation into Anderson's death.

April 21: The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton join about 2,000 demonstrators in the Capitol courtyard, and the pair meet privately with Bush.

May 5: The Hillsborough County medical examiner says the second autopsy performed on Anderson shows he died from suffocation.

May 31: Bush signs into law the Martin Lee Anderson Act, which scraps the state's juvenile justice boot camps in favor of facilities that emphasize treatment.

July 12: Anderson's family announces it will file a $40 million lawsuit against the Bay County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

Oct. 18: U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle dismisses a conspiracy allegation in the Anderson family's civil lawsuit and rules that the family cannot recover punitive damages should they win the suit.

Nov. 17: Former Department of Juvenile Justice employee Steve Meredith files a whistleblower complaint against the agency, saying he was fired because of his outspoken views on the Anderson case.

Nov. 28: Authorities file felony manslaughter charges in Anderson's death, alleging that eight people at the camp caused his death through culpable negligence.

Oct. 12, 2007: After an eight-day trial, a jury in Panama City acquits the eight defendants of all charges.

Tribune research by BUDDY JAUDON

Reporter Catherine Dolinski contributed to this report. Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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