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Federal probe lingers in Florida
boot camp death October
13, 2008
By Melissa Nelson
PENSACOLA, Fla. – A looming federal
investigation and possible trial is making it difficult for seven
juvenile Florida boot camp guards and a nurse acquitted last year of
state charges in the death of a 14-year-old boy to move on with
their lives, their attorneys said.
The eight left a Panama City
courthouse with their jubilant families one year ago on Oct. 12,
2007, after jurors found them not guilty in the beating death of
Martin Lee Anderson. The death and verdict prompted protests and
Florida's juvenile boot camps were abolished. The eight employees
were fired from the Bay County Juvenile Boot Camp.
"All of their lives have changed.
They are no longer doing what was their first choice in life to do,"
said Hoot Crawford, attorney for former camp guard Henry Dickens,
who is now a hotel security guard. Dickens had wanted to dedicate
his life to reforming juvenile offenders but "now he is doing
something very different," Crawford said.
The federal inquiry remains open,
said Karen Rhew, a Tallahassee-based assistant U.S. attorney. She
declined to give other details or a timeframe for a decision on
whether or not there will be a second trial.
Attorneys for the eight said their
clients did not want to talk publicly about the verdict because of
the federal investigation.
Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, a day
after being hit and kicked by the guards as the nurse watched. He
had just been assigned to the camp. He was caught trespassing at a
school, which violated his probation imposed after he was convicted
of helping his cousins steal their grandmother's car.
A video of the 30-minute
altercation showed the seven men punching him and using knee strikes
against him, pushing ammonia capsules into his nose and dragging his
limp body around the yard. The video also showed the nurse doing
nothing to help Anderson or stop the men.
A coroner initially determined
Anderson fatally hemorrhaged because he had an undiagnosed sickle
cell trait, a condition which can cause red cells to change shape
and not carry oxygen when the body is under extreme stress.
A second autopsy, completed when
then-Gov. Jeb Bush ordered an independent prosecutor take over the
case, determined the guards killed Anderson by depriving him of
oxygen when they pushed the ammonia tablets into his nose, covered
his mouth and didn't give him time to recover his breath.
During the two-week trial, the
defense argued employees were using accepted camp tactics and that
the sickle cell trait caused Anderson's death. Jurors, who spent
days watching and rewatching the tape, agreed and acquitted the
eight of all charges. Anderson was black, the jury was all-white.
The defendants were black, white and Asian.
The verdict prompted protests two
hours away in Tallahassee where angry college students blocked
downtown intersections, calling for a federal investigation. U.S.
Justice Department officials calmed the students by meeting with
protest leaders and assuring them they would investigate.
Messages seeking comment from
Anderson's family were not returned by Benjamin Crump, the attorney
who represented the boy's parents in their lawsuit against the
state. The family was awarded $7.4 million to settle lawsuits
against the state and Bay County.
Waylon Graham, attorney for lead
guard Charles Helms, says he believes no decision on federal charges
will come until after the Nov. 4 election. He said Helms and the
others are "still all jittery and nervous about what the feds might
do."
Robert Sombathy, who represented
guard Patrick Garrett at trial, said he hoped and believed that "the
investigation is being done above politics and that this doesn't
come to do what is the right political thing to do."
The Rev. Rufus Woods, pastor of
Love Missionary Baptist Church in the east Panama City neighborhood
where Anderson grew up, said time has tempered some of the
community's initial outrage, but he and others hope federal charges
will come.
"We remain prayerful that we won't
be disappointed," he said.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects to
'Bay County,' instead of 'Bay City' on lawsuit settlement. Adds AP
photo number)
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