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Is this the price to pay for a joy ride in your grand mothers car? one day, he was there fo one day and this is what happens. What I don't get is (1) why did this not make the news thoughout the nation? (2) Why isn't Jeb on the news for this kids and his familys rights? and last, why are'nt the people upset to the point of being in the streets demanding that people be held accountable? This is no more than a leagal lynching, but hey whats new.


BACKGROUND OF GUARDS, NURSE

The Bay County Sheriff's Office has released the identities and some documents on seven guards and the nurse involved in the Martin Anderson incident. The 14-year-old boy died hours after an altercation with guards at the juvenile boot camp run by the sheriff's office in Panama City. The files of those involved are incomplete in some parts and conflict with other official accounts.

• Henry L. McFadden, 32, was hired in November 2004 as an entry-level drill instructor. One of the newest hires, his file is sparse, peppered with a few comments about his responsibility and good decision-making abilities. Prior to working at the camp, he racked up a host of medals in the Air Force from 1993 to 2004.

• Charles Steven Enfinger, 32, was hired in May 2003 as an entry-level drill instructor. He was an employee of the month in May 2004 and has consistently earned sparkling reviews as one who ''stays on schedule and motivates the offenders well.'' In his file, though, the sheriff's office blacked out a paragraph concerning his crime history. A car enthusiast and hunter, he noted in his file that he restored a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle and has ``harvested a few very respectful whitetail deer.''

• Patrick Tate Garrett, 29, was hired in February 2000 as an entry-level drill instructor. He was employee of the month in June 2004 and has good reviews but was twice suspended without pay for a day for incidents that are not spelled out in his file. Garrett was commended for performing the Heimlich maneuver to save a choking inmate. He served in the Army from 1996-1999 and was honorably discharged. Though it's not in his file, The Herald has learned he was suspended for three days in 2004 for not seeking medical attention for a youth who accused him of smashing his face into the ground.

• Joseph Lawrence Walsh, 34, was hired as an entry-level drill instructor in May 2002. He was employee of the month in February 2004 and September 2005. He earned solid reviews from superiors and was described as ''cool, calm, low key'' by a friend in a recommendation. He served in the Air Force from 1989 until 1998, when he was honorably discharged.

• Henry Leslie Dickens, 59, has worked at the boot camp since 1995 and holds the rank of administrative drill instructor. He was commended for working yearly at the Martin Luther King Community Center, and once received a personal letter from a former inmate who thanked him and two other drill instructors for putting him on the right track. In March 2001, he was reprimanded for letting a civilian use his badge. He served in the Navy from 1987-1995 and was honorably discharged.

• Charles William Helms, 50, is an upper-level drill instructor who was hired in December 1993. In 1998, then-Bay County Sheriff Guy Tunnell called him a ''great asset'' in a letter of commendation. He was employee of the month in February 2003. In October 1997, he was reprimanded for sloppy police work in connection with a kidnapping investigation, and was suspended for five days without pay in April 2005 in an apparent dispute with his supervisor. He served in the Army from June 1975 until December 1993 and was honorably discharged.

• Raymond Morris Hauck, 47, was hired in 1995 as an entry-level drill instructor. His file is full of praise from supervisors and he was employee of the month in May 2001. Hauck and two others were commended for helping Panama City fire crews help people avoid injury when their house burned across the street from the boot camp.

• Kristin Anne Doward Schmidt, 52, was hired in June 1994 as the boot camp nurse and has repeatedly won merit raises. In one review, a supervisor noted that ``if a mistake is made, she will accept it, and corrections are normally made immediately. This helps with the little things turning into big things.''

-- MARC CAPUTO

Parents turn up heat in boot-camp death

The boy's mom calls it murder. Legislators and the NAACP demand answers.
Brent Kallestad The Associated Press Posted February 16, 2006

TALLAHASSEE -- The mother of a 14-year-old boy said Wednesday that her son was "murdered" by guards at a Bay County boot camp for juvenile offenders.Bay County sheriff's spokeswoman Ruth Sasser would not comment because of the ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6 death of Martin Lee Anderson. The Sheriff's Office has said the boy was restrained after he became uncooperative.The boy's parents joined lawmakers and NAACP spokesman Anthony Viegbesie at a news conference where before-and-after photos of the boy were shown -- one a smiling, skinny kid and the other a bloated version of the boy in his casket."My baby was murdered," said Gina Jones, his mother. "Don't let my baby's death be in vain.""Why would a grown man do this to a 14-year-old boy?" father Robert Anderson asked. "I want some answers."Also Wednesday, the Legislature's black caucus urged the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to remove himself from the investigation because he previously was Bay County sheriff.But Gov. Jeb Bush said he remained confident in FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell.Some legislators, however, weren't as confident in the investigation that has already stretched over about six weeks. Law-enforcement authorities have resisted legal efforts by news organizations and others to release to the public a videotape that lawmakers said shows the boy being beaten.Lawmakers and the NAACP also called for the arrest of those involved and asked Bush to appoint a special prosecutor."It's tragic, but to shut down the boot camps or to have a special prosecutor without having seen the investigation and seeing what needs to be done I think is a little premature," Bush responded. The Associated Press obtained copies of memos Wednesday from Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen that ordered drill instructors to stop using ammonia capsules on teens suspected of faking unconsciousness. They were written the day Martin died. An attorney for the Anderson family, Ben Crump, said the guards forced ammonia tablets up the boy's nose in efforts to keep him conscious. Exposure to ammonia can cause eye irritation, coughing, lung damage and even death in high enough concentrations. The Florida State Conference of the NAACP also said it was filing an injunction seeking release of the videotape that has been seen by some of the governor's aides and at least two state House members. Viegbesie said the organization also would ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Martin's civil rights were violated. Meanwhile, Department of Juvenile Justice officials were grilled Wednesday by a House committee looking for answers on the recent rash of deaths in Florida boot camps. Three teenagers have died in state custody in the past three years.A Florida State University criminology professor told the House Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee that a national study on boot camps indicates they don't prevent children from becoming repeat offenders and don't make financial sense."If they're not working, get rid of them," professor Thomas Blomberg said.The boot-camp concept in Florida began in 1983 with nine facilities but will soon be whittled to four when a Martin County camp closes later this year. About 600 boys ages 14 to 18 remain in the existing camps.


Anderson’s Death Still Haunting Bay

2/17/2006 Joseph_Kemp@link.freedom.com

The investigation into a teenager’s death at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office Boot Camp has taken on new dimensions this week after an autopsy report and a videotape, which reveals guards restraining the teen, were made public on Friday, Feb. 17.
Bay County’s Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Siebert said that Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died of sickle cell trait, a rare blood disorder that affects only 12 percent of the African American population, and is not routinely checked for in blood work.
Those with sickle cells have a deformity in the red blood cells, they become “sickled” which makes it hard for the blood to carry the oxygen to the tissues. Siebert said that is why Anderson began bleeding from the nose and internal organs.
Siebert also stated that Anderson had only minor abrasions to his head and lips, with no signs of serious trauma. After viewing the tape, Siebert dismissed the idea the alleged assault was the cause of Anderson’s death.
“I wouldn’t classify it as a beating,” Siebert told The News Herald. “There were control efforts that were applied to him. Were they excessive? That’s not my area of expertise.”
Two South Florida experts on sickle cell are doubting the fact that someone with only the trait and not the anemia would die when otherwise completely healthy.
Dr. Stuart Toledano, director of the University of Miami medical school’s pediatric hematology and oncology, who has worked in the field for more than three decades, said to The Miami Herald that he was unaware of any teenager dying of sickle cell trait unless they were oxygen deprived. He also added that sickle cells would “sickle” upon a teen’s death.
''Lacerations and contusions, that is not a part of sickle cell anything,'' Toledano told The Miami Herald, “I don't see how I can say that any more bluntly.''
Dr. Thomas Harrington, director of the Adult Sickle Cell Clinic at Jackson Memorial Hospital, believes that someone with the sickle cell trait to die abruptly of complications from the disease would mean that his body had to be under a huge amount of stress, more than likely dehydrated and oxygen-deprived.
''I don't see where the natural causes come in,'' Harrington told The Miami Herald, “you have to be under pretty severe physical stress to die with sickle cell trait.''
Anderson’s parents and attorney are also citing that Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen had Anderson’s body moved from Pensacola, where he died, to Bay County. They’re not shy about insinuating a cover up, as the Anderson family attorney, Benjamin Crump, has let it be known that he believes it is a case of “home cooking.”
Rep. Gus Barriero (R-Fla.) is also sticking to his original statements that Anderson died from abuse, and said that the Siebert report was just Bay County’s example of “circling the wagons.”
Gov. Jeb Bush called the announcement of a federal civil rights investigation, “appropriate … There is a death and there's been a lot of attention given to it and we look forward to the U.S. attorney and the federal government investigating this.''
At a press conference held on Feb. 17, Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman Tom Ring said that FDLE has “substantially completed the investigation into the circumstances of Martin Anderson’s death,” and has given most of the information to the office of State Attorney Steve Meadows.
Ring said the tape was still part of an active investigation, but they have decided to release it. He also wanted the media to “show all of the video,” so that the concerned citizens may see the unaltered version.
McKeithen stated that the findings have not “changed the seriousness, or the complexity of this complicated and unfortunate incident.” He also admitted that the case had not been “handled correctly” and that people have expressed valid concerns.
McKeithen said that many changes had already been made, and more will follow once all the facts are in and if any “violations or improper procedures” are proven.
McKiethen expressed his condolences to the Anderson family during the conference.
For more background on the Anderson story, read the following articles:
Boot Camp Video Released
Boot Camp Death Draws State Attention
Boot Camp Offender Passes Away
Also, check out the autopsy report and videotape.


Tape of boot camp death released
By Alan Gomez
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Saturday, February 18, 2006
TALLAHASSEE — The long-awaited release Friday of a videotape showing a cadre of guards at a Panama City boot camp forcefully handling a 14-year-old detainee did little to quell allegations that the boy was killed by the guards and that there is an ongoing coverup to protect them.
The sometimes blurry and obscured videotape showed a roughly 20-minute segment where four to eight guards are surrounding Martin Lee Anderson, a Panama City teen who arrived at the boot camp Jan. 5 and died the next morning.As two official investigations into his death continue, the boy's family, their attorneys and state legislators complained that even though the video clearly shows guards punching the boy and thrusting their knees into him, they believe it had been tampered with to hide parts of the incident.
"You have to challenge the authenticity of this tape, as you see the pan-aways, as you see the splices," attorney Daryl Parks said. "There's even a blackout in it."
They also said the autopsy — completed Thursday by Panama City Chief Medical Examiner Charles F. Siebert — was flawed because it concluded that Anderson died not of the physical beating he received but from natural causes stemming from "complications of sickle cell trait."
"I've been working with sickle cells for over 30 years and I have never seen a natural death due to sickle cell trait," said Dr. Allan Noonan, dean of the Morgan State University School of Public Health and Policy in Maryland and a member of the board of directors of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.
Noonan said some research has shown that sickle cell trait — which is when someone carries a sickle cell gene but does not have the disease — may lead to death in cases where people are flying at high altitudes and the plane's cabin becomes depressurized. But he was not aware of any case of someone dying from sickle cell trait "on ground level."
"It just doesn't happen," Noonan said.
The Florida Conference of Black State Legislators asked Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday to appoint a special coroner to do a separate autopsy. It also has asked Bush to appoint a special prosecutor, because the person in charge of the investigation into the death — Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell — established the Bay County Boot Camp when he was the sheriff there.
"This is a coverup... and I don't see how our good governor... can stand by and allow this heinous act to occur without taking some affirmative actions," said Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando.
A Bush spokeswoman said the governor had not reviewed the tape but would wait until the two investigations are complete before taking any action.
U.S. Attorney Gregory Miller, the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI have teamed for a federal investigation into whether the teen's death was a violation of his civil rights.
Meanwhile, the FDLE investigation was completed Friday and turned over to Panama City State Attorney Steve Meadows. A spokesman said the office needed several days to sort through the documents it received Friday and determine whether the case would go before a grand jury or if any charges would be filed.
The tape released by the FDLE Friday runs for more than an hour and has no audio. It was taken shortly after Anderson arrived at the camp run by the Bay County Sheriff's Office. He had been arrested on charges of stealing his grandmother's car.
The first part of the tape shows guards ordering more than a dozen youths around an open field and a canopied workout area. The youths are forced to run sprints and do pushups and situps between marching drills and other disciplinary orders.
The final 30 minutes of the tape are focused on Anderson. Although Bay County sheriff's officials have said he was restrained because he was uncooperative, there is no moment on the tape where he clearly appears uncooperative.
Rather, the tape zooms to him already surrounded by guards, who are clearly seen thrusting their knees into his back and legs several times and punching him repeatedly in the arm. The guards spend about five minutes trying to get Anderson to walk back toward the rest of the group, but the boy seems incapable of holding his own weight after the interaction with the guards.
A nurse is seen closely observing the use of force on Anderson, but she never appears to try to stop it. When his body goes limp before her, she then tends to him.
A short time later, paramedics are seen arriving and taking Anderson away.
On Friday, the boy's mother, Gina Jones, said she had to stop watching the tape during a portion when guards pin Anderson against a pole, thrust a knee in his backside and thrust him to the ground.
"Out of all those boys they had against the wall, restrained, why Martin?" Jones asked. "You could see he could barely get up. I knew my baby was in pain. I'm in pain just looking at the tape.



"Martin didn't even have a chance."


Has America really changed?