Gov. Bush: Official
Shouldn't Have E-Mailed
By BRENT KALLESTAD
Associated Press Writer
March 28, 2006
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —
Florida's top investigator should not have communicated
privately with a county sheriff while the state investigated
the death of a teenager who was punched and kicked by guards
at the county's boot camp, Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday.
Guy Tunnell, commissioner of the Florida Department of
Law Enforcement, exchanged several e-mails with Bay County
Sheriff Frank McKeithen and others about the investigation
and the department's effort to withhold a video showing the
beating of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson.
Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, speaks at a
news conference in Tallahassee, Fla., about
the death of 14-year-old Martin Anderson,
shown in photos, in this Wednesday, Feb. 15,
2006, file photo. ( AP Photo/Phil Coale)
|
Tunnell started Bay County's boot camp at Panama City
when he was Bay County's sheriff. He also is a friend of
McKeithen's.
"E-mail is a very difficult thing," Bush said. "It's a
means of public communication and on matters that relate to
investigations, I think making sure that people stay focused
and disciplined on these things protects the folks that are
being investigated, and is also more respectful for the
people who are grieving."
Bush said he would meet Tuesday with Tunnell but did not
indicate whether they would discuss the e-mails.
In several e-mails, Tunnell criticized people who
questioned the effectiveness of the boot camp concept,
according to the documents obtained by The Miami Herald.
He also forwarded to McKeithen an e-mail detailing the
agency's effort to withhold the video showing guards hitting
Anderson, who died several hours later on Jan. 6.
After two lawmakers asked to see the video, Tunnell wrote
in an e-mail to department staffers: "Ain't gonna happen."
Tunnell acknowledged Tuesday that it has been difficult
to remain neutral.
"I am a Bay County native and I'm proud of it, but I
think FDLE's reputation (of) being straightforward,
professional and calling it like it is is well-known," he
said. "I don't see any tarnish."
Bush said Tunnell's agency has played a secondary role in
the case since he brought in a state attorney.
The Panama City boot camp has since been closed.
Anderson collapsed while doing exercises during his first
day at the camp. The Bay County sheriff's office, which runs
the camp, has said the guards were trying to get him to
participate after he became uncooperative.
An initial autopsy found the boy died from complications
of sickle cell trait, but a nationally known pathologist,
Dr. Michael Baden, said after observing a second autopsy
that Anderson likely was suffocated during the confrontation
at the camp.
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March 28, 2006 - 5:45 p.m. PST
