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 PANAMA CITY, FLA---Seven former guards at a now closed Bay County juvenile boot camp and a nurse have been charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of Martin Lee Anderson, the teenager who died in January while in custody at the camp.
Henry Dickens, Charles Enfinger, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck, Charles Helms Jr., Henry McFadden Jr., Kristin Schmidt and Joseph Walsh II each face one count of aggravated manslaughter, a first degree felony.
If convicted, the eight defendants could face up to 30 years in prison.
The charges were lodged by the Hillsborough State Attorney's office.
The initial autopsy conducted by Bay County medical examiner Dr. Charles Siebert, former Pinellas County ME, determined that Anderson, 14, had died from complications from sickle cell trait, a blood disorder.
But Anderson's family refused to accept Siebert's finding and charged that a cover up existed in the boy's death. Siebert continues to stand by his original determination.
After a videotape surfaced showing guards hitting and kneeing Anderson at the military-style facility while he was being restrained, they had the boy's body exhumed. A second autopsy conducted by Dr. Vernard Adams determined that Anderson had died by suffocation at the hands of sheriff's officials who had shoved ammonia capsules up the boy's nose, blocked the boy's mouth and forced him to inhale the ammonia that caused his vocal cords to spasm, blocking his airway.
In an incident report, the guards said they used the capsules five times on Anderson in order to get his cooperation.
Anderson was in his first day at the camp on where he had been sent as punishment for a probation violation Jan. 5 when he complained of breathing difficulties during exercises as part of the entry process into the facility. He collapsed and died after being hospitalized. The guards had said in an incident report that they had used the ammonia capsules to keep Anderson conscious.
Reports from the Bay County Sheriff's office said that Anderson was being restrained because he had resisted attempts to get him to complete the exercise and for being "uncooperative."
Guy Tunnell, commissioner of Florida's Department of Law Enforcement, resigned in late April. Tunnell and the FDLE were removed from the case after Tunnell allegedly sent an e-mail to Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, his successor, stating FDLE's intention to withhold the video which showed Bay County sheriff's officers beating the defenseless teen. There is also reportedly an e-mail by Tunnell to the Bay County Sheriff stating that FDLE would oppose the release of the video to media organizations. When two state legislators asked to see the videotape of Anderson's beating, Tunnell retorted, "Ain't gonna happen".
Mark Ober, state attorney from Hillsborough County, was named special prosecutor by Gov. Jeb Bush.
The FDLE was removed from the investigation after Ober learned of the e-mails and after Tunnell had had several meetings with Bush.
Bush said Tuesday that "we hope at the end of the day justice will be served. We also hope that when the process is completed that Martin Lee Anderson's family will have the answers to the questions that they legitimately have".
The family has sued the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Bay County Sheriff's office for $40 million.
Ober said that "despite its complexity and magnitude, we have conducted a timely, thorough and ethical investigation. In doing so, we have rightfully ignored repeated demands calling for a rush to judgment. To have done otherwise would have politicized my investigation and denied Martin Anderson the justice he deserves".
Ober's report says that Siebert acted under "good faith belief" that he could conduct the original autopsy even though Anderson died in Pensacola which is outside of Siebert's jurisdiction.
Ober did not fault Tunnell or McKeithen despite the e-mail exchange, saying that "FDLE conducted this investigation in the same manner that it would conduct any other investigation and Tunnell's personal relationship with the (sheriff's office) and the Bay County Boot Camp did not affect the work of the FDLE investigations", Ober said in his report to Bush.
Following the findings of the second autopsy, in conflict with Siebert's, Attorney General Charlie Crist had asked the Florida Medical Examiners Commission to investigate autopsies conducted by Siebert that may have contained "fundamental flaws" and that Siebert probably should be suspended pending further review of the Anderson case.
He had asked the commission not to include in its review Siebert's autopsy report of Anderson because he said that any investigation of might impede an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted.
Crist made his request to the commission by letter, asking the state agency to determine if Siebert violated state law while performing at least three autopsies "and any other flawed autopsies of which we might not be aware".
There has been no determination announced by the commission.
A federal probe into Anderson's death has also been initiated by the U.S. Attorney's office in Tallahassee and the U.S Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.
The camp has been closed. 11-28-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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