Who can fault Gina
Jones, the mother of a 14-year-old who in January
was recorded being beaten and suffocated by
boot-camp guards, for wanting to ask Gov. Bush: "If
that was his son he saw on the video, would he have
faith in the system after 10 months?"
The length of the
investigation into Martin Lee Anderson's Jan. 6
death at the hands of Bay County Sheriff's Office
guards is not the only factor that has undermined
credibility in the probe. The original coroner, Bay
County Medical Examiner Charles Siebert, ruled that
Martin Anderson died of the typically nonlethal
sickle cell trait - a ruling that Gov. Bush
acknowledged "defied common sense." There also was
then-Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Commissioner Guy Tunnell, who in e-mails to the Bay
County sheriff bragged that he would block release
of the video of the beating.
Gov. Bush's
appointment of Hillsborough County State Attorney
Mark Ober restored hope that justice eventually
would prevail. Mr. Ober's request for a second
autopsy bolstered that hope. Hillsborough County
Chief Medical Examiner Vernard Adams determined that
the guards suffocated Martin by placing their hands
over his mouth while stuffing ammonia capsules into
his nose. That was in May. No one has been charged.
Nor has Dr.
Siebert, who had not renewed his state medical
license when he performed Martin Anderson's autopsy,
been disciplined. In August, after finding that Dr.
Siebert was negligent in 42 of 698 cases reviewed, a
panel of the state's Medical Examiner's Commission
recommended that he be suspended. But, ultimately,
the commission ordered only probation and that Dr.
Siebert pay for a reviewer to check his work.
After Ms. Jones on
Wednesday attempted unsuccessfully to meet with Gov.
Bush without an appointment, Mr. Ober issued a
statement that his office "has made significant
progress ... While I cannot give a definitive
timeline, the investigation will not be complete
until I am satisfied that we have gathered and
analyzed all relevant information."
After the Medical
Examiner's Commission vote in August, chairman Dr.
Stephen Nelson told The Miami Herald: "This
sends the wrong message to the people of Florida. It
says ... it's no big deal." The longer the probe
drags on, the more the public will share Dr.
Nelson's - and Ms. Jones' - sentiment.
