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Videotape shows guard choking
teenager
April 21, 2007
By Stephanie Garry
http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/81830.html - to view
videotape
Timeline of incidents on tape
TALLAHASSEE -- The Department of
Juvenile Justice released a video Friday showing what it described
as inappropriate use of force by a guard, who choked a teenager at
the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.
The incident, which happened in
February, led to the firings of the guard and the head of the
state-run Panhandle school for troubled young men.
The footage, taken from security
cameras in two rooms at the school, show two guards dressed in black
taking 18-year-old Justin Caldwell into a corner in the common room,
where another inmate is sitting at a table apparently doing
homework. The guards' backs block the view, but Caldwell is seen
collapsing, then being dragged across the floor. He appears to be
unconscious for at least two minutes.
DJJ Secretary Walt McNeil announced
the firings last week after an investigation concluded the guard
used excessive force.
McNeil said guard Alvin Speights
choked Caldwell until the teen hit a table and lost consciousness.
McNeil said he was hoping to act
swiftly and publicly to show he is serious about the ''systematic
operational problems'' at the school that he said ``span the chain
of command from top to bottom.''
At a news conference last week, he
said he planned to release the video but couldn't because it had not
been edited in time to protect witnesses' identities.
The department has been troubled by
the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson at a boot camp in
January 2006. The boy's parents are seeking $5 million from the
Legislature, and Gov. Charlie Crist supports giving the family that
amount.
McNeil is a Crist appointee.
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Timeline of incidents on videotape:
17:52:58 -
Abuse begins - three views
17:53:17 -
Justin is knocked down
17:53:20 -
Struggling in the corner of the floor
17:53:55 -
Continues to struggle with guard in corner; child sits in chair at
table nearby seemingly unaffected by events
17:54:29 -
Guards lift Justin and take him to other room
17:54:51 -
Guards drag Justin into other room
17:55:02 - Boy
leaves table walking right by abuse
17:55:09 -
Justin limp on the ground; guards dropping white rags around his
upper body
17:55:36 -
Justin lying still on floor; guards continue throwing rags around
him
17:55:53 -
Guards continue throwing white rags around Justin
17:56:08 -
Justin still lying still on ground; guard makes phone call
17:56:20 -
Guards throw more rags around Justin's upper body
17:56:35 -
Justin still lying on floor, not moving
17:56:55 -
Four guards come over to Justin, look at him
17:57:12 -
Guard bends down with rags and gloves, looking down at Justin
17:58 - tape
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