They punched him, kneed him, shoved
...
July 15, 2006
HOURS after he was brought to the
boot camp, the 14-year-old boy died.
Martin Lee Anderson was brought to
the Florida boot camp for reasons related to the theft of his
grandmother's car.
A videotape that the Miami Herald and
CNN sued for its release showed that Martin stumbled while running
laps at the camp.
He was allegedly manhandled by about
seven guards who used pressure-point techniques, punched his arms,
kneed him, slammed him to the ground and shoved ammonia capsules in
his nose in an apparent attempt to revive him and get him to comply
with their orders.
Now, his parents are suing two
government agencies, seeking more than US$40 million ($63.8m) in
damages.
Lawyer Benjamin Crump, who is acting
for the family of Martin Lee Anderson, filed the lawsuit on
Wednesday against the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Bay
County Sheriff's Office, which ran the camp under contract with the
state.
Mr Crump said the action was taken
after officials from the Sheriff's Office rejected an offer to
settle for its insurance policy limit of US$3 million.
Sheriff Frank McKeithen said no
settlement has been reached because the investigation is still
pending.
A special prosecutor is still trying
to determine whether to charge any of the guards.
The boy's death in January has led to
protests in the Capitol and at Governor Jeb Bush's office.
It also led to the resignation of the
head of the state's law enforcement agency, and a law has been drawn
up to eliminate military-style boot camps.
Mr Crump said at a news conference:
'A video proves that as seven guards punished Martin by kicking,
punching, kneeing, choking and slamming him while they jammed
ammonia tablets up his nose and covered his mouth, a nurse watched
him slip in and out of consciousness.
'These heinous, malicious and
torturous treatments led to his death.'
Mr Crump said he based the US$40
million figure on a similar case in Texas in 2003. The jury awarded
a family US$40.1 million after an 18-year-old died after two months
in a boot camp.
In Martin's case, he had collapsed
after an intense workout.
An initial autopsy found that his
death was caused by complications of a usually harmless blood
disorder.
But his body was exhumed later and a
second autopsy was carried out. It concluded that he had died of
suffocation when guards covered his mouth while forcing ammonia
capsules up his nose in efforts to revive him. - AP.
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