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Boot camp suit asks $40M

The family of Martin Lee Anderson, who died after a pummeling in boot camp, goes to court.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 13, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - The family of a 14-year-old who died hours after a manhandling by guards at a juvenile boot camp sued Wednesday, seeking more than $40-million in damages from state and local agencies.

Ben Crump, who represents the family of Martin Lee Anderson, filed the suit against the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Bay County Sheriff's Office, which ran the camp under contract with the state.

Crump said the Sheriff's Office rejected an offer to settle for its insurance policy limit of $3-million.

The teenager's January death led to protests, the resignation of the head of the state's law enforcement agency and the elimination of military-style boot camps.

Anderson died in Pensacola after his videotaped ordeal with guards in the Panama City boot camp.

"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," Crump said. "These heinous, malicious, and torturous treatments led to his death."

The lawsuit was filed late Wednesday in Leon Circuit Court.

"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family of Martin Lee Anderson," Juvenile Justice Secretary Anthony Schembri said, while declining to comment on the lawsuit.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen said no settlement was reached because it would be premature. "The investigation is incomplete and still pending," his written statement said.

Crump said he based the $40-million figure largely on a similar Texas case, in which a jury awarded a family $40.1-million after their 18-year-old died while being forced to complete intense physical programs in a boot camp despite pleas for medical help.

Anderson collapsed after an intense workout at the Panama City camp, where he was sent for a probation violation.

In a ruling that caused an uproar, Bay County's medical examiner issued a finding that Anderson's death was natural, due to complications of a usually harmless blood disorder called sickle cell trait. Gov. Jeb Bush then turned the investigation over to a special prosecutor, Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober. The body was exhumed and a second autopsy concluded that Anderson died of suffocation resulting from guards' covering his mouth while forcing ammonia capsules up his nose trying to revive him.

Ober is still deciding whether to charge any of the guards.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement chief Guy Tunnell resigned after questions arose about his involvement in the investigation.

[Last modified July 13, 2006, 05:57:13]