Guards: Boot Camp Altercation By The Book

Boot camp guards and a nurse charged with killing a teenage boy testified Tuesday that a videotaped altercation with him seemed like a common case of an offender refusing to exercise - until he became quiet and limp.

The 30-minute video of seven guards hitting and kneeing 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson shocked many and helped prompt the state to close its juvenile boot camps, but defendants who testified Tuesday said it was a by-the-book effort to get him to cooperate.

"At any time he could have walked, got up, finished the run," guard Charles Helms said.

Helms is among seven guards and a nurse charged with manslaughter in the death of Anderson, who died at a hospital a day after the Jan. 5, 2006, altercation.

Prosecutors say the guards suffocated Anderson by covering his mouth and forcing him to inhale ammonia fumes. Defense attorneys contend their clients followed policy and say Anderson died because of a previously undiagnosed blood disorder.

The nurse, Kristin Schmidt, cried on the witness stand Tuesday as she told jurors she believed she did everything she could to prevent the boy's death.

Schmidt said she did not observe anything medically wrong with Anderson throughout the altercation. Schmidt testified that Anderson did not appear to be injured by the repeated blows, the application of ammonia capsules, wrist restraints and other techniques used by the guards.

Though Anderson complained of not being able to breathe, Schmidt said, the boy was able to breathe fine and answer questions. She said that when Anderson stopped answering the guards' questions and became limp, she instructed the guards to call 911.

Schmidt said her job called on her to interfere with the guards only "if I saw something that would cause an injury."

"They don't punish kids at the boot camp," she said. "I know when they use control techniques they have their reasons."

Prosecutor Mike Sinacore played the video for Schmidt and asked whether she considered Anderson's "wobbly legs" a medical concern.

Schmidt said Anderson moved his legs after ammonia capsules were applied and that she could not tell whether he was feigning illness.

Schmidt said she was accustomed to youths faking illness to avoid exercise. "There was at least one on every intake day," she said of her 11 years at the camp.

Helms and two other guards who testified earlier Tuesday said they did not initially see Anderson's condition as a medical emergency and the main concern was to get the teen to comply with orders. Helms, a supervisor, said Anderson showed "signs of life" throughout the altercation.

Prosecutors said Helms purposely left out details on the incident report. Helms blamed it on shock and lack of sleep, because he traveled from the Panama City boot camp to the Pensacola hospital where Anderson died.

Prosecutor Scott Harmon walked guard Raymond Hauck through a two-minute section of the video in which Hauck repeatedly applied an ammonia capsules to a limp Anderson and lifted his limp body.

During the two-minute segment another guard struck Anderson.

"You were right in front of Anderson when he is being lifted, his head is hanging down. He didn't appear to have much control of his muscles did he?" Harmon asked Hauck.

Hauck said he did not.

"It didn't occur to you looking at the boy, the way his knees were buckling, the way he was holding his head that something was wrong," Harmon asked.

Hauck said it did not.

Defense attorneys say Anderson's death was unavoidable because he had undiagnosed sickle cell trait, a genetic blood disorder. The usually benign disorder can cause blood cells to shrivel into a sickle shape and limit their ability to carry oxygen under physical stress, but prosecution witnesses have testified that Anderson would have died even without the disorder.

Schmidt said she had no training in sickle cell trait and that the condition was not indicated on any of Anderson's medical forms.

Guard Patrick Garrett testified that Anderson appeared responsive and combative, but fell and said he could not breathe.

"He seemed extremely angry that we were making him go on (with the run). That was what was so confusing. He wouldn't stand up on his legs, but he would pull his arms away," Garrett said.

Garrett struck Anderson with his knee and pulled Anderson to the ground as he and other guards used ammonia on Anderson.

Robert Sombathy, Garrett's attorney, asked whether Garrett would have done anything different in hindsight.

Garrett said had he known Anderson had sickle cell trait, he would have "done everything different."

A prosecutor then asked whether, looking back, if it was obvious that something was wrong with Anderson.

"If you look back on this, I could absolutely come to that conclusion that he had something wrong with him," Garrett said.

This case has spurred action from a House panel that begin looking into charges of child abuse and neglect at residential treatment facilities.

Testimony is expected from parents whose children have died in boot-camp programs. The lawmakers will consider whether the privately run facilities should fall under federal regulation.