Posted on 10/12/2007 11:45:13 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
Reacting to the not-guilty verdicts in the Florida boot camp case involving the death of a 14-year old African-American boy, CNN anchor Don Lemon found the result "surprising." And both he and CNN reporter Susan Candiotti made clear that they bought into the prosecution's portrayal of the videotape of the incident.
Just before the verdicts came down, there was this exchange [emphasis added].
DON LEMON: How much of a role did this tape play into [sic] this trial?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI: Oh huge. This is the main evidence, isn't it? And as one of the prosecutors said, "there might not be sound on this tape, but it is screaming at you, 'why didn't someone do something?'"
View video here.
Note that by stating "as one of the prosectors said," Candiotti was adopting the prosecutor's argument as her own. After the verdicts were announced, Lemon made clear that he too bought into the prosecutor's version.
LEMON: All of them acquitted. And all of them found "not guilty." Surprising, Susan . . . If you look at this, I mean it's, ah, the tape is quite disturbing, and as you said, you can't hear, there's no sound on the tape, but it just sort of screams at you.Lemon went on to suggest that the jurors' race might explain the verdict.
LEMON: Earlier, when I asked you about the racial component, I think the only racial component in this was that the jury was all-white, mostly white in this case, and they [who?] were concerned that the jury may not have, you know, I guess, been compliant [sic] or what have you to a black teenager in all this and they would necessarily find these guards not guilty. And there was some controversy about that.Oh, so that's "the only racial component". Just that white jurors wouldn't be "compliant" [sympathetic?] to a black teenager and as a result would "necessarily" acquit the guards. Glad Lemon cleared that up.
Google sports related deaths from sickle cell. The paramedics that responded to the camp found him breathing but unresponsive. The first medical examiner found sickle cell to be the causation of death. A second medical examiner found death by asphyxiation.
which video...the one they are showing on TV?..the 30 seconds?
or the 8 minute ordeal the kid went through which I posted...
This was in 2004. So, what was the outcome of the FBI and Justice Department investigations?
I watched this video and its hard for me to get a sense of exactly what is going on. It’s pretty small and my eyes aren’t good. I’m sure they had a frame by frame presentation to the jury.
I don’t know how compliant the kid was or when he started getting into trouble. I don’t know what the cause of death was.
But, I don’t think this was just seven guys whaling on a kid. I’m sure its possible that they continued pain techniques for compliance after the kid started having heart or breathing problems and before they became aware the kid was in trouble. After they figured out the kid was ill I saw them stepping pretty fast to get him medical attention. I didn’t see them as being unconcerned about it at all.
The nurse/monitor was there pretty much the whole time. It seems they have some internal policies in place as well as the camera system just for such an event. These guards knew the cameras were there and knew the nurse was there. I’ll bet every single thing they did was part of an established procedure and that one of those guards was directing this action. I think this was a controlled event. The kid had a bad ticker...
actually..the first doctor found the cause of death to be internal bleeding...which he subsequently dismissed as a result of sickle cell...even though the video clearly shows several blows to the abdomen and including knee shots
quote:
” A teenager who was beaten by guards in a state-run boot camp for juvenile delinquents died from internal bleeding caused by a blood disorder, not from injuries he may have suffered in the beating, a medical examiner reported”
Find “internal beeding” as a symptom of sickle cell death...
becuase I can find no listed case yet...
They all involve renal failure or cardiac arrest...not sudden internal bleeding..
http://www.medicinenet.com/sickle_cell/page3.htm
In our PC world, I believe it much more likely that they would go to jail with the kid being black.
Yes...we allways take the press’s word for stuff round here dont we....
sit and watch the video....spare 8 minutes..
I posted it above.
The medical reports dont support what?
The first medical examiner found the cause of death to be internal bleeding...which he blammed on sickle cell...
The second one found the cause of death to be suffocation.
TAMPA — A 14-year-old boy who was roughed up by guards at a Panama City juvenile boot camp in a videotaped altercation died because the sheriff’s officials suffocated him, Hillsborough County’s medical examiner said Friday.
The findings of Dr. Vernard Adams’s autopsy on Martin Lee Anderson conflict with the results of the initial one by Dr. Charles Siebert, the medical examiner for Bay County. He ruled the boy died had a natural death from complications of sickle cell trait, a usually benign blood disorder many blacks have.
``Martin Anderson’s death was caused by suffocation due to actions of the guards at the boot camp,’’ Adams wrote in a statement. He said the suffocation was caused by hands blocking the boy’s mouth, as well as the ``forced inhalation of ammonia fumes’’ that caused his vocal cords to spasm, blocking his upper airway.
The new findings were announced as part of an investigation by Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him in February to investigate the death after Siebert’s findings were disputed by the 14-year-old boy’s family and others. Ober asked Adams to do a second autopsy.
No one has been arrested and Ober said no timeline has been established for completing the investigation.
``I assure the family of Martin Anderson and the people of the state of Florida that my office is working diligently to aggressively investigate all aspects of this case,’’ Ober said in a statement. He declined to answer questions about Adams’ findings.
Anderson’s parents, Gina Jones and Robert Anderson, planned a news conference Friday evening at their attorney’s Tallahassee office to respond to the findings. Marc Tochterman, a spokesman for the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, which operated the boot camp, said the agency had no immediate comment.
Siebert did not immediately return a call seeking comment, but he has repeatedly stood by his findings, saying they were based on reliable science, not emotions. He also has said he was being unfairly attacked by special interest groups.
``I am disturbed by Dr. Adams findings and consider the actions of the Bay County boot camp guards deplorable,’’ Bush said in a statement. ``I assure Gina Jones and Robert Anderson that the state remains committed to providing any resources State Attorney Ober deems necessary to complete this investigation as quickly as possible.’’
Attorney General Charlie Crist said Friday that Siebert ``should probably be suspended pending further review.’’ He said the second autopsy report wasn’t surprising.
``I can’t say I’m shocked after having watched the tape. What was surprising was the first autopsy,’’ Crist said. He said there ``probably will be arrests.’’
Waylon Graham, attorney for sheriff’s Lt. Charles Helms, who was second in command of the boot camp and present in the exercise yard that day, said he wasn’t shocked by Adams’ report. Graham said the investigation has turned into a ``witch hunt’’ with criminal charges inevitable.
``I think (Helms) knows what’s coming next,’’ Graham said. ``When you get an autopsy with results like that it’s pretty clear that they are going to charge him and obviously the others. It would take a pretty naive person to think otherwise.’’
He said Helms doesn’t believe that the guards caused Anderson’s death.
Anderson was kneed, struck and dragged by guards on his first day at the boot camp for juvenile offenders. He was eventually was taken to a Pensacola hospital where he died the next day, Jan. 6. The ordeal with guards was captured by a camp security camera and later broadcast nationally.
Anderson had collapsed while doing push-ups, sit-ups, running laps and other exercises that were part of his admission to the camp. The sheriff’s office said force was used on Anderson because he was uncooperative.
Adams found the repeated blows to Anderson’s limbs ``left several bruises but did not contribute to his death.’’ ``In other words, he was not beaten to death,’’ Adams wrote in the statement.
Siebert found that the exertion from that exercise triggered the sickle cell trait and ultimately caused small blood clots to develop in the bloodstream, which resulted in internal bleeding.
His body was exhumed in Panama City and brought to Tampa in March for the second autopsy. It was observed by forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who said afterward that he believed Anderson didn’t die from sickle cell trait or any other natural causes. Baden was hired by the boy’s family.
The death also sparked protests at the state Capitol, forced lawmakers to scrap the military-style camps and led to the resignation of the state’s top law enforcement officer, who started the boot camp in Panama City when he was Bay County sheriff. Bush said Florida Department of Law Enforcement chief Guy Tunnell shouldn’t have sent e-mails to the current sheriff questioning those who criticized the boot camp concept.
Anderson has entered the camp for a probation violation for trespassing at a school after he and his cousins were originally charged with stealing their grandmother’s car from a church parking lot.
Associated Press writers Melissa Nelson in Pensacola and Andrea Fanta in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
Do you have a link to these reports you cite?
Add this to consideration here:
When was the last time a medical examiner gave an autopsy report that DIDNT mitigate the actions of cops or authority figures?
Every black person or suspect of ANY race who dies in police custody has some kind of ‘ailment’ or is ‘high’ and therefore it’s just automatic to assume the beatings, chemicals and chokings had nothing to do with death but these ‘contributing’ factors.
If I do something to a diabetic, my ignorance of their condition which leads to their death is not an excuse. Maybe the answer is that you can’t assume people will all react to things the same way, thus you ARE guilty of some type of crime?
But I guess that only applies to the peasants.
No where is “pooling of blood IN the spleen noted....only “internal bleeding”...
Also note that what you listed...”Pooling of blood in the spleen” is a symptom...not a cuase of death.
The main causes are listed as renal failure and cardiac arrest.
also note the other autopsy reported the cuase of death as suffocation....and doenst mention internal bleeding..only clotting in blood vessles..
It looks like the Gov. jumped to a few premature conclusions. And in my opinion owes Dr. Siebert an apology. The second autopsy that didn't surprise the Gov. didn't hold up well in the trial. It seems this guy Adams reached his conclusion mainly by watching the video.
I have dail yup spo viwing the clip will take awhile.
The facts remain the defendents met the “reseasonable doubt” and the jury agreed.
Anyone who thinks the prosecution wanted a conviction is naive.
If the kid had been white, you'd never even heard of the story or seen the video. Multiple kids die every year in these types of camps. How many other stories are you aware of?
It’s ironic how many deride the blame white people attitude, while usually possessing a blame black people attitude.
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