Jury Selection In Teen Boot Camp Death

Seven Guards And A Nurse Charged With Manslaughter In Death Of 14-Year-Old Boy

(AP)  Chanting demonstrators carried photographs of a teenager who died at a juvenile boot camp as jury selection began Monday for the manslaughter trial of seven guards and a nurse charged in his death.

Martin Lee Anderson was 14 when he died in January 2006 at the now-closed Bay County Juvenile Boot Camp.

He had been sent there for a probation violation and became lethargic during a physical fitness test shortly after arriving. An exercise yard videotape shows seven guards repeatedly hitting the boy with their fists and knees. The camp nurse is accused of watching but doing nothing during most of the 30-minute encounter.

More than 1,400 Bay County residents were summoned for jury selection, being held in a makeshift courtroom in a civic center to accommodate the crowd. That is one of every 90 adults in the Florida Panhandle county.

The large number is needed because the case has gotten so much media attention locally. If an impartial panel can't be found, the trial will be moved to another Florida county.

More than 400 people were expected to be screened Monday, and Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet told attorneys he expected the process to continue past 8 p.m. "We will have to work to get through this panel," he said.

About 20 demonstrators stood outside the civic center and carried large posters showing Anderson and bearing slogans such as "Justice 4 Martin."

Their chants of "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now" could be heard in the second-floor courtroom.

The original autopsy on Anderson, conducted by the Bay County medical examiner, attributed his death to natural complications of sickle cell trait, a genetic blood disorder.

After an outcry from Anderson's family and the public, his body was exhumed and a second autopsy by another doctor found he had suffocated.

The defense will lean heavily on the first autopsy, saying it shows the guards' and nurse's actions were not to blame.

Then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober to prosecute the case, citing a potential conflict of interest for local prosecutors. His team will say that the second autopsy combined with the video shows that Anderson was killed.

The Florida Legislature dismantled the state's military-style youth boot camps after Anderson's death. The case also led to the resignation of the chief of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

[jshmks]

Allright, settle down Ron Paul.

"An exercise yard videotape shows seven guards repeatedly hitting the boy with their fists and knees."

I guess this is like Jena 6, but now it''s Bay County 7.

[ekucrew]

Hopefully the Florida Board of Nursing stripped that pathetic excuse of a nurse of her license for her lifetime....if she ever really was a RN, LPN, BSN.

[voteronpaul3]

**** TAKE AMERICA BACK ****
**** STOP THE WAR ****

Ron Paul has it all.

He has NEVER voted:
* to raise taxes
* for an unbalanced budget
* to raise congressional pay
* for a federal restriction on gun ownership
* to increase the power of the executive branch

He HAS voted:
* against the Iraq war
* against the inappropriately named USA PATRIOT act
* against regulating the internet
* against the Military Commissions Act

He will eliminate the IRS, Wasteful Government Spending & Stop The Iraq War Immediately!

Most importantly, he vote NO on anything in Congress that is not allowed by the Constitution.

Shouldn''t ALL members of Congress uphold the Constitution? Aren''t they SWORN to uphold it? You can bet Paul won''t call the Constitution "just a G**D***ed piece of paper" like George Bush is reported to have.

If you want a candidate you can TRUST due to a proven track record, visit ronpaul2008.com and get busy spreading the word. The Mainstream Media is a lagging indicator!!

Ron Paul Revolution: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ron+paul

Get Active join a meetup.com group today!

Also checkout http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=federal reserve fraud