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Judge clarifies instructions for
boot camp jurors
September 13, 2007
By David Angier
Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet on
Wednesday released the instructions he will give to jurors next
month to use as a guideline in determining a verdict in the boot
camp death trial.
Former boot camp drill instructors
Henry Dickens, Charles Enfinger, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck,
Charles Helms Jr., Henry McFadden Jr. and Joseph Walsh II, along
with former camp nurse Kristin Schmidt, face charges of aggravated
manslaughter of a child and 30 years in prison each if convicted as
charged.
They’re accused of culpable
negligence in the death of Martin Lee Anderson, 14, who died Jan. 6,
2006, after collapsing during his initiation into the camp.
The trial starts Oct. 3, with jury
selection beginning Sept. 24.
There are four issues the state
will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt for jurors to convict
each of the eight for aggravated manslaughter of a child:
Anderson is dead.
The defendant was a caregiver for
Anderson.
Anderson was younger than 18.
The defendant directly and
proximately caused Anderson’s death by neglecting Anderson through
culpable negligence.
Culpable negligence is defined as
more than a failure to use ordinary care toward others. In order for
negligence to be culpable, it must be gross and flagrant. Culpable
negligence is a course of conduct showing reckless disregard of
human life.
Overstreet also addressed the issue
of whether the defendants could be excused if it’s proved that
Anderson had a pre-existing medical condition that led to his death.
Anderson had sickle cell trait and
Panama City Medical Examiner Charles Siebert Jr. determined that was
the cause of his death. Tampa Medical Examiner Vernard Adams
disagreed, saying the guards suffocated Anderson.
Overstreet will instruct jurors
that the guards can be held culpably negligent if their actions
aggravated a pre-existing medical condition, which caused Anderson’s
death.
“However, a defendant cannot
directly cause the death of an individual if the death of the
individual would have occurred in any event, regardless of the
culpably negligent conduct of the defendant,” according to the
instruction.
Overstreet found there would have
to be reasonable foreseeability that the defendants’ actions would
lead to a person’s death.
The judge also will read numerous
other instructions that would explain the lesser offenses that will
be on the verdict form, such as child neglect and manslaughter, as
well as legal defenses to the charge.
Bob Sombathy, who represents
Garrett, said the judge made the complicated legal issue of culpable
negligence “as easy as possible for jurors to understand.”
“I was very pleased,” he said.
“It’s very fair and allows us to argue if the death of Martin Lee
Anderson was not foreseeable, then they are not guilty of aggravated
manslaughter despite his pre-existing medical condition.”
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