Article published
Aug 3, 2006
Anderson probe may end soon
No charges have been filed in the boot-camp
death
By Stephen D. Price
CAPITOL BUREAU
The seven-month investigation into
the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson could end soon and has
gone beyond the scope of the boot-camp guards who were videotaped
hitting him, state Sen. Frederica Wilson said.
Wilson, D-Miami, said Hillsborough
State Attorney Mike Ober, who is investigating the Panama City
teen's death, told her details about the investigation.
"It's going to be soon," Wilson said.
"They're investigating everything."
Ober has not commented on the case
since Gov. Jeb Bush assigned him to it in February. No charges have
been filed.
Anderson died Jan. 6, a day after he
was restrained, hit and kneed by guards at the Bay County juvenile
boot camp.
An autopsy done by Bay County medical
examiner Dr. Charles Siebert said Anderson died from sickle-cell
trait, or natural causes.
A second autopsy, done by
Hillsborough County medical examiner Dr. Vernard Adams, said
Anderson died from suffocation by guards at the boot camp who forced
ammonia tablets into his nose while covering his mouth.
Last spring, Bush signed the Martin
Lee Anderson Act, which, among other things, would create "STAR"
academies, or boot camps modeled after a program in Martin County
that places more emphasis on juvenile prevention programs and
follow-up counseling when youthful offenders are released.
Anderson's parents have sued the Bay
County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Juvenile Justice,
which contracted with the sheriff's office to operate the camps,
seeking more than $40 million for the death of the teenager.
Attorney Ben Crump, who represents
the family, said of the investigation, "We never thought it would
take this long."
The length of the investigation and
some of the twists it has taken had some people, including black
legislators, suspecting a cover-up in Anderson's death.
Former Florida Department of Law
Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell made headlines when newspapers
printed e-mail traffic between him and the governor's office in
which Tunnell initially refused to release a videotape of the
boot-camp incident. The FDLE was eventually taken off the
investigation.
FDLE spokesman Tom Berlinger said
personnel at the department are cooperating in the investigation
into Anderson's death.
Once the results of the second
autopsy were released, Andersons' parents said they had faith the
investigation would uncover the truth. Others agreed.
"I thought this was a big conspiracy
and he (Ober) was a part of it, but he's not," Wilson said.
Sen. Tony Hill D-Jacksonville, said
he is still frustrated no arrests have been made.
"Why is it taking so long for it to
happen?" Hill asked. "Some people should have received warrants for
their arrests."
Hill said that although members of
the black caucus vowed to have weekly press conferences until
arrests were made, they stopped them since learning "this thing is
much broader than the officers."
Is Oprah interested?
Producers for Oprah Winfrey's talk
show "Oprah" have been talking with Martin Anderson's parents and
the family's attorney, Ben Crump, about possibly doing a show on the
case sometime this fall. Nothing has been set yet and the talks are
still tentative, Crump said.
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