Trial Begins For Guards In Boot Camp Death

Seven former juvenile boot camp guards and a nurse are responsible for a black teenage boy's death because they repeatedly beat him and failed to get him medical help, a prosecutor said Wednesday, laying out the details of a case that led Florida to shutter all such camps.

Prosecutor Pam Bondi walked jurors through parts of the detailed videotape of the guards striking Martin Lee Anderson with their fists and knees at the military-style boot camp in January 2006, as the 14-year-old boy lay limp for most of the time and the nurse just watched. The guards also held their hands over Anderson's mouth and shoved ammonia capsule up his nose, she said.

"Their job was to teach discipline, but first and foremost to do no harm," Bondi said of the eight defendants charged with manslaughter, later adding: "This was no accident. This was a child who was killed."

The eight defendants face up to 30 years in prison each if convicted of aggravated manslaughter of a child.

The case has generated intense media attention and civil rights groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Florida chapter doubt that the mostly-white jury impaneled will be impartial.

About 30 protesters had gathered outside the court, also protesting the venue of the trial. It is being held in Bay County, where the case has garnered a great deal of attention. Some of the jurors have also seen the videotape of the beating.

The defense has maintained that Anderson died of a rare genetic blood disorder, not the camp employees' actions.

The case began on the day Anderson was born, not on the day of the alleged beating, said Robert Sombathy, attorney for guard Patrick Garrett.

An initial autopsy by the local medical examiner said the death was due to natural complications of the disorder. But a special prosecutor, appointed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush in response to a public outcry, ordered a second autopsy by another doctor. That autopsy determined the guards suffocated Anderson with their hands over his mouth and by making him breathe ammonia.

Anderson died in January 2006 after being taken to a hospital from the boot camp, which was run by the county sheriff's office.

He had been sent to the camp for a probation violation and became lethargic during a physical fitness test shortly after arriving. The videotape showed him after he collapses and was caught on an exercise yard surveillance camera.

Anderson's death prompted Florida lawmakers to dismantle the military-style youth camps in the state, and the chief of the state's Department of Law Enforcement resigned.

His family also received a $5 million settlement from the state.