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Posted on Fri, Mar. 10, 2006

BOOT CAMP DEATH

Guards detail youth's final minutes

A report written by guards at a Panama City boot camp offered officials' first detailed account of how they treated a 14-year-old boy who said he `couldn't breathe.'

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER

cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

From the moment boot-camp guards put their hands on him -- 40 minutes before an ambulance took him away -- Martin Lee Anderson complained he couldn't breathe.

In a use-of-force report obtained by The Miami Herald, officials of the Bay County Sheriff's Office Boot Camp acknowledged that a lengthy encounter between Martin and eight officers on Jan. 5 caused ''injury'' to Martin, a 14-year-old from Panama City who died the next day.

Boot camp officials describe in detached, clinical detail the last hour before Martin was rushed to a hospital, an episode that included ''knee strikes'' to Martin's legs, ''hammer strike'' punches to his arms and several ''pressure points'' to his head -- a restraint technique banned by the state at almost all juvenile programs two years ago.

The guards approached the teen after he dropped to his knees complaining he ''was tired and couldn't breathe good enough to run any more,'' the report said.

The four-page document is the first record made public in which officers provide their own account of what they called a ''restraint'' of an uncooperative youth.

''This was a mugging couched in euphemisms,'' said Tom Petersen, a retired 15-year Miami juvenile court judge who taught juvenile justice at the University of Miami for a decade.

''They begin with the assumption that the kid is lying about not being able to run. But, not only that, he has to be beaten up to continue,'' said Petersen, who saw a copy of the report. ``It's shocking, and an insult to all of us who have worked in the field.''

Ron Davidson, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor who has reviewed nearly 400 group homes, mental hospitals and juvenile justice facilities for the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies, called the officers' actions ``absolutely outrageous.''

`BRUTALIZED'

''They brutalized this kid,'' said Davidson, who read the report. ``Nothing this kid did called for the response they made. He presented no danger. The only danger was the danger faced by this child from these sadistic, untrained and unprofessional staff. They should be prosecuted.''

Ruth Sasser, a spokeswoman for Bay Sheriff Frank McKeithen, who runs the camp under contract with the state Department of Juvenile Justice, declined to comment on the report.

A medical examiner concluded Martin died of natural causes related to sickle-cell trait. The conclusion, criticized by experts on the disorder, led to calls for a second autopsy, to be performed in Tampa on Monday after the teen's body is exhumed from a Panama City cemetery today. A special prosecutor in Tampa will decide whether anyone will be charged.

Martin's ordeal began at 9:06 a.m. on Jan. 5, shortly after he arrived at the Bay Boot Camp for a regimen of military-style training and discipline for taking his grandmother's car for a joyride.

The narrative, written by Sgt. Patrick Garrett, says Martin dropped ''to his knees and then to the ground'' during a running exercise designed to test his endurance. Immediately, officers Charles Enfinger and Joseph Walsh restrained Martin against the boot camp's south fence.

When Martin ''began to tense his arms, ball his fist and pull his arm back,'' Enfinger did a ''takedown'' of the youth, the report says.

``While on the ground, Offender Anderson began to say he was tired and couldn't breathe good enough to run anymore, and Cpl. Walsh placed an ammonia capsule under [his] nose.''

`COUNSELING'

Garrett arrived and ''took control of Offender Anderson's left arm for counseling,'' the report said. ``I told Offender Anderson that he had to continue the physical assessment run. Offender Anderson responded by saying he was too tired.''

When Martin tried to pull away, Garrett said he ``applied a knee strike to Offender Anderson's left thigh and escorted him to the ground.''

The youth, ordered to continue walking laps, began, but fell twice.

The boot camp's nurse, Kristin Schmidt, ''examined'' Martin at this point, the report noted, but said the teen ''was responsive and his vitals were normal.'' Garrett wrote that Martin ''struggled'' against the officers and tensed his body.

''I ordered Offender Anderson to stop resisting and relax his arms. When [he] refused to comply with those instructions, I applied a knee strike to his left thigh and escorted him to the ground,'' Garrett wrote. ''After reaching the ground, I applied a bent wrist to Offender Anderson's left wrist for approximately 7 seconds,'' Garrett wrote, describing his bending Martin's wrist backward to cause pain.

``I continued counseling Offender Anderson, and he continued to argue and state that he could not run.''

Once again, the report states, officers brought Martin back to his feet, and once again he ''dropped back to his knees.'' When an officer placed another ammonia capsule under his nose, Martin tried to pull away. ``I applied two knee strikes to Offender Anderson's left thigh, and [drill instructor Henry] McFadden applied a bent wrist to his right wrist.''

Martin fell down twice again, Garrett wrote. Sgt. Henry Dickens brought Martin a cup of water and poured water over the teen's head. When the officers again ''counseled'' the youth, he said ``he wasn't going to do anymore and that he was done.''

When Martin, slumping forward, refused to answer questions, Dickens applied a ''pressure point'' to the youth's head -- a technique banned by DJJ chief Anthony Schembri in June 2004.

''Too many children have been injured in incidents with these techniques,'' Schembri wrote in a memo about several banned restraints.

In his report, Garrett said Martin ''balled up his fist and began to struggle'' after an officer again poured water over his head. ''Walsh applied hammer strikes to his left forearm and ordered Offender Anderson to unball his fists,'' Garrett wrote.

Martin continued to insist ''he wasn't going to run anymore,'' Garrett wrote.

Once again Martin ''balled his fist and tensed his arms,'' and once again an officer repeatedly punched him.

Moments later, the youth ''stopped responding,'' and officers called 911.

''I'm amazed that they admitted in writing that they did all these things,'' said Aaron McNeece, dean of the Florida State Unversity College of Social Work, who has done extensive research on juvenile justice issues and read the report at The Herald's request.

``They obviously felt as if they were doing the right thing, and if they just kept hitting him enough, or using enough ammonia, eventually he would comply.''

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