November, 27, 2006
Boot camp death suit expanded
Stephen D. Price
Tallahassee Democrat
A civil suit in the death of
14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson has been expanded to include seven
deputies, some of whom were seen kicking and hitting the Panama City
teen on video of the incident at the Bay County juvenile boot camp.
Ben Crump, who represents
Anderson's parents in a civil suit against the Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice and the Bay County Sheriff's Office, said he
originally planned not to sue the guards.
He said he changed his mind because
of a response in the federal suit from the attorney representing Bay
County Sheriff Frank McKeithen in which Crump said the sheriff
distanced himself from the actions of the guards.
"Everybody is saying it's not me,
it's not me, it's them," said Crump, who added that making the
deputies defendants complicates the suit.
The deputies named in the suit are
Joseph Walsh, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck, Henry Dickens, Charles
Helms, Charles Enfinger and Henry McFadden.
Anderson died Jan. 6, a day after
he was hit, kicked and kneed by guards at the Bay County boot camp.
No arrests have been made and a criminal investigation is ongoing.
An initial autopsy concluded
Anderson died from sickle-cell trait, but another autopsy, requested
by State Attorney Mark Ober, a special investigator in the case,
said the teen died from suffocation by guards at the boot camp, who
forced ammonia tablets into his nose while covering his mouth.
Anderson's parents filed the civil
suit seeking $40 million. The DJJ contracted with the Bay County
Sheriff's Office to manage the boot camp.
In a response to an order by U.S.
District Judge Robert Hinkle that dismissed several parts of the
suit, attorney John Jolly, who represents McKeithen, argued in part,
"any harm described in the complaint did not arise as a result of a
custom, policy or practice routinely in effect at the Bay County
Sheriff's Office, and, therefore, no liability for constitutional
tort arises."
Crump said their response shows
that the Sheriff will distance himself from what the deputies did to
Anderson.
"If the deputies are not involved
in this suit individually and personally, then there will be no
justice for the family of Martin Lee Anderson," Crump said.
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