MIAMI HERALD WATCHDOG | BOOT CAMP DEATH

Autopsy: Teen was suffocated

Martin Lee Anderson died because guards at a juvenile boot camp suffocated him, a medical
examiner who autopsied the teen's body said Friday

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER AND MARC CAPUTO

cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

TALLAHASSEE - Martin Lee Anderson, the 14-year-old boy whose death last January at a Panama City boot camp sent shock waves through the state's juvenile justice system, was suffocated by guards who held his mouth shut and forced him to inhale a fatal amount of ammonia, a medical examiner said Friday.

The conclusion that the guards' actions killed the teen repudiated an earlier autopsy that found Martin had died of natural causes, a ruling that outraged family members and their supporters.

''Martin Anderson's death was caused by suffocation due to the actions of the guards at the boot camp,'' Dr. Vernard Adams, Tampa's chief medical examiner, wrote Friday. Adams performed an autopsy March 13 at the request of special prosecutor Mark Ober, who will decide if criminal charges will be filed in the case.

''The suffocation was caused by manual [blockage] of the mouth, in concert with forced inhalation of ammonia fumes that caused spasm of the vocal cords resulting in internal blockage of the upper airway,'' Adams said.

None of the seven or eight guards seen manhandling Martin in a videotape shot by a security camera have been arrested, and neither Ober's spokesman, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi, nor Adams would discuss the case further. Bondi said the investigation continues.

Martin's mother and father, who have called the state's response to their son's death a ''cover-up,'' said Friday they have faith now that arrests will come.

They lashed out at Bay County's chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles Siebert, who performed the first autopsy on their son and ruled that the teen had died of natural causes.

''The truth is out now. My baby was murdered in a boot camp. And he [Siebert] tried to cover it up,'' said Gina Jones, Martin's mother.

Adams' conclusion ends a bitter chapter in the tragic case, which began Jan. 5 when a group of guards at the Bay County Sheriff's Office Boot Camp punched, kneed and choked Martin hours after he arrived. The guards took control of the teen after he complained he was unable to continue running laps. Hours later, the youth was dead.

In February, Siebert ruled that Martin had died from a genetic blood disorder, sickle cell trait. He said he died after rigorous exercise precipitated a sickle cell crisis and caused his blood to cease clotting.

Minutes after that report's release, experts on sickle cell trait told The Miami Herald that Siebert's findings were extremely questionable. Within days, a chorus of medical officials, forming a fairly broad consensus, agreed that Siebert's finding made little sense.

In his investigation, Adams said he employed video enhancement technology developed by NASA to better discern the actions of guards on the otherwise grainy videotape of the use-of-force incident. The Miami Herald and CNN sued the state and got the videotape made public.

''At my request, [investigators] created a detailed timeline of events from the enhanced video,'' Adams wrote. ``I have reviewed all investigative reports as well as all known medical records for Martin Anderson. My opinions are based on all available information, including the video, police reports, medical records and autopsy findings.''

Adams said Martin did have sickle cell trait, a typically benign condition he said did not cause the death. The pathologist also said the ``repeated blows to Martin's limbs and the gripping of his limbs left several bruises but did not contribute to his death.

''In other words,'' Adams added, ``he was not beaten to death.''

Siebert stood by his original autopsy, however, saying he was ''shocked'' by Adams' findings.

''All I can say at this point is I disagree with what Dr. Adams says,'' Siebert said. ``Dr. Adams has come out with an opinion that is not backed up. There is no data showing that his opinion is true and mine is not.''

The news Friday afternoon rippled through the state Capitol, where the Legislature was wrapping up a contentious session before going home. Before leaving, the Legislature passed the Martin Lee Anderson Act, to shut down the state's four remaining boot camps and replace them with a less militaristic approach.

CAUCUS PRESSURE

The legislative black caucus has held weekly press conferences to put pressure on the governor to resolve the case more quickly, and was in the midst of one when the news broke.

''Praise the Lord,'' said Sen. Gary Siplin, an Orlando Democrat and caucus member.

''So now it's murder,'' Sen. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Gardens Democrat, instantly added. ``Here we have a tape. We have a beating. We know who the guards are. Suffocation is murder.''

Bolstered by the new autopsy, the caucus renewed its call for Bush to fire or suspend Siebert, already under investigation by both the state Medical Examiner's Commission and the Florida Board of Medicine.

GOVERNOR CONSIDERS

A Bush spokesman said Friday the governor spoke with Martin's parents immediately after the autopsy results were released, and is considering what to do next.

'I am disturbed by Dr. Adams' findings and consider the actions of the Bay County Boot Camp guards deplorable,'' Bush said in a prepared statement. ``Our thoughts and prayers remain with Martin's family during this difficult time.''

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, who ran the boot camp under contract with the state Department of Juvenile Justice, declined to discuss the new autopsy results Friday. He shut down the camp last month, saying the roiling controversy made his guards' jobs more difficult.

Waylon Graham, an attorney for Lt. Charles Helms, the camp's second-highest ranking officer, acknowledged the new autopsy took a ''sharp turn'' from Siebert's findings, but said he was not at all surprised by recent developments.

''This had turned into a witch hunt, and I was confident the second autopsy would be damning. I had prepared my client from the very beginning that this was going to happen,'' said Graham, of Panama City.

Graham called it ''a foregone conclusion'' that one or more of the guards will face criminal charges for their actions.

A bipartisan parade of politicians and lawmakers reacted to the autopsy with calls for Siebert's firing or suspension. Some officials said flatly that the guards who caused Martin's death should be held accountable in a criminal court.

OFFICIAL REACTION

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, a Republican candidate for governor, said Siebert ''should probably be suspended.'' Crist told The Miami Herald he expected arrests soon and that he couldn't ''think of anything more'' that would be needed to charge one or more of the guards.

''The findings of Dr. Vernard Adams regarding the cause of Martin Lee Anderson's tragic and unnecessary death shock the conscience,'' Crist said later in a prepared statement.

Rep. Gus Barreiro, a Miami Beach Republican who brought public attention to the boy's death when he told The Miami Herald the video showed Martin being ''flung around like a rag doll,'' called upon prosecutors to arrest the boot camp guards ``immediately.''

''You have to send a strong and loud message across the state: that if you do such a thing there will be a consequence,'' Barreiro said.

Rep. Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat who also described Martin's beating to the newspaper before the video was made public, said state juvenile justice officials also share blame in the case for failing to see repeated red flags that youths were being roughed up at the boot camp for such things as ''insolence'' and smirking.

''What killed this kid was the guards who mishandled him, and the bureaucracy that ignored him,'' Gelber said. ``This was handled terribly by those employees, and he paid a horrible, unfair price for it.''

Miami Herald staff writers Mary Ellen Klas, Evan S. Benn, Gary Fineout and Matthew I. Pinzur contributed to this report.