By THOMAS W. KRAUSE
tkrause@tampatrib.com

Mar 15, 2006

Michael Baden, who observed Martin Lee Anderson's second autopsy
Monday, said the bruising on the 14-year-old's body was consistent
with the beating shown in a videotape. Anderson's mother, Gina Jones,
and father, Robert Anderson, sought Baden's opinion.

TAMPA - Bruising found on the body of a 14-year-old was consistent with a surveillance video that showed guards at a Panhandle boot camp kneeing and punching him, a pathologist working for the teen's family said Tuesday.

The bruising, revealed at an autopsy performed Monday, was not noted in a previous autopsy.

"You can see from the video that you would expect to find bruises," said the pathologist, Michael Baden.

Baden, who acted as an observer at Monday's autopsy, stopped short of saying the bruising proves that the beating caused Martin Lee Anderson's death. The official cause of death will be revealed by Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Vernard Adams within a few weeks. Hundreds of slides with body tissue need to be reviewed to determine exactly how the teen died, Baden said.

Although the previous autopsy, performed by a Bay County medical examiner, blamed the death on natural causes attributed to sickle cell trait, Baden said Tuesday that blood samples disprove that diagnosis.Hillsborough County prosecutors confirmed Baden's statements that sickle cell trait did not cause the death and that the teen did not die of natural causes. They declined to comment further.

Baden is a New York pathologist who has worked on several high-profile autopsies and hosts an HBO show about forensic science. He said he doubts this case will make the show. Anderson's family asked him to sit in on the autopsy and help determine the cause of death.

Blood Samples Weren't Reviewed

Baden said the original autopsy included mistakes.

The Bay County autopsy found a small amount of blood cells in Anderson's body that were "sickling," a process where typically disk-shaped blood cells take the form of a quarter moon. The condition affects the cells' ability to pass easily through small blood vessels.

Blood samples used in the first autopsy, however, were taken after Anderson died, Baden said.

Monday's autopsy, he said, included analysis of blood samples not reviewed in Bay County. Blood taken in the ambulance and at the hospital, hours before Anderson died, showed no signs of sickling, Baden said. Therefore, he said, sickle cell trait can be ruled out as a cause of death.

Anderson's blood cells began to sickle at the moment he was dying, as his body was losing oxygen, Baden said.

William Anderson, an Orlando pathologist not related to the teenager and not affiliated with the case, said the presence of just a few sickled cells usually indicates a postmortem condition.

"When people die from [sickling], the blood vessels are just jammed with it," he said.

About 3 million black Americans have sickle cell trait, a generally benign genetic condition, according to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. Sickle cell trait is a genetic term. Having the trait does not lead to sickle cell disease.

Anderson said that, in rare instances when under severe stress, the trait can cause blood cells to sickle. The sickle cell association, however, reports that links between extreme exercise and death from sickle cell trait have not been proved.

No Objections From First Doctor

Last month, after the Bay County prosecutor recused himself from the investigation of the teen's death, Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober as special prosecutor. Ober asked Adams to conduct the second autopsy.

Those observing Monday's autopsy included Ober, Baden, attorneys for the family and the doctor who performed the original autopsy, Charles Siebert.

Siebert is considering changing his mind after witnessing the second autopsy, Baden said.

"He was there," Baden said. "He heard our opinions. He did not object or defend himself."

Through a representative at his office, Siebert said he would defer comment about Monday's autopsy until after final results are released.

Baden said Anderson was a large teenager, about 5-feet-11. In the surveillance video, guards are seen kneeing and punching him while a nurse, hands on her hips, looks on. The teen's body flailed like a rag doll, Baden said.

"Someone should have known that with this big fellow, and eight bigger people around him, something was wrong," he said.

Anderson's parents agreed.

"I just want the guards and the nurse to be arrested," said Gina Jones, Anderson's mother. "It's time now."

Jones said she was glad the autopsy revealed that her son did not die of natural causes. She knew that all along, she said.

The Anderson family attorney, Benjamin Crump, commended the Hillsborough medical examiner for his expertise and thoroughness. A typical autopsy can take two to four hours. Anderson's took more than 12.

"Dr. Adams only stopped to eat a bologna sandwich and went straight back to work," Crump said.

Tuesday afternoon, Crump was with Anderson's family, heading back to Panama City for a 5 p.m. service, after which they would rebury Anderson's body.

In June, Anderson was arrested with five other youths for taking a joy ride in his grandmother's car. He was sentenced to probation, then violated that probation by trespassing at a school. He arrived at the boot camp Jan. 5 and was rushed to the hospital two hours later. Guards said they were disciplining him for not completing an exercise regimen.