likely was suffocated during the confrontation and was brain dead when
he was brought to a hospital, a pathologist told lawmakers Friday.
Dr. Michael Baden observed the second autopsy performed on 14-year-old
Martin Lee Anderson on Monday in Tampa.
He was there on behalf of Anderson's family, who disputes
the original autopsy, which found the boy died of complications
of sickle cell trait, a usually benign blood disorder many blacks have.
Speaking by telephone from New York, Baden told the state House Criminal
Justice Committee that Anderson did not die of natural causes.
"He can't breathe, he can't get oxygen," he said. "When he leaves on
that stretcher, he's already mostly brain dead."
But Dr. Charles Siebert, who conducted the first autopsy and witnessed
the second one with Baden, said Friday that he saw nothing there to
change his mind. He said in a phone interview with The Associated Press
that he would review his findings when the results of the second autopsy
are released.
Surveillance-camera videotape of the altercation at the Panama City boot
camp has led some legislators and others to call for the closure of
juvenile boot camps. Tampa-area prosecutors investigating the death
agree with Baden's assertion that the boy didn't die of natural causes,
but have declined to comment further because of the pending probe.
Anderson collapsed while doing exercises during his first day at the
camp. The Bay County sheriff's office, which runs the camp, has said the
guards were trying to get him to participate after he became uncooperative.
Baden said someone pressed on Anderson's back while he was on the ground
- which could have kept him from breathing - and that a guard could be
seen holding a hand over the boy's mouth.
"They did that, according to their report, so that he could inhale the
ammonia that they were forcing up his nose" to revive him, Baden said.
He said hospital reports showed that an emergency room monitor indicated
severe brain damage when he arrived.
Committee chairman Gus Barreiro said he wants Siebert, medical examiner
for the district that includes Panama City, to appear before the panel.
Siebert told the AP that he stands by his findings that exercise
triggered the sickle cell trait, which led to severe internal bleeding.
He said there was no clinical or physical evidence of pressure on the
body or compression to the chest that could have caused the kind of
asphyxiation Baden described. Anderson instead suffered from cellular
asphyxiation when his blood cells assumed a sickle shape, clogging his
arteries, he said.
"His cells were not able to get the oxygen they needed," Siebert said.
On Thursday, Siebert issued a statement saying it's not unheard of for
medical experts to come to different conclusions after reviewing the
same case. He complained he has been subject to "baseless and
mean-spirited accusations from special interest groups" calling for
everything from revoking his license to criminal charges.
The second autopsy was conducted by Dr. Vernard Adams, the district
medical examiner in Tampa. Also there was Hillsborough County State
Attorney Mark Ober, who was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to investigate
the death.
No guards have been arrested or fired. The camp no longer houses any
juveniles and is being closed.
Baden told the committee it may be several weeks before official results
of the second autopsy are released. Tissue samples from the body are
still undergoing laboratory tests.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2006/03/17/ap2604166.html
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