Martin Anderson Case - Public Outcry

Public Outcry

The death became a cause célèbre and received national attention. The local Medical Examiner, Dr. Charles Siebert, performed an autopsy and ruled that the teen died of "complications from sickle cell trait". He said, "It was a natural death." This caused further public outcry. The Governor ordered a second autopsy; the second pathologist, Dr. Vern Adams, ruled Martin Anderson’s death was "caused by suffocation due to actions of the guards at the boot camp. The suffocation was caused by manual occlusion of the mouth, in concert with forced inhalation of ammonia fumes that caused spasm of the vocal cords resulting in internal blockage of the upper airway."

Public indignation resulted in the closing of the state's five juvenile boot camps, the firing of Siebert, and charges of manslaughter against the guards. Governor Charlie Crist directed the state of Florida to settle a family lawsuit for $5 million. Eventually, the guards were acquitted at trial. The controversy regarding Siebert's firing resulted in accusations by the National Association of Medical Examiners, independent groups of Medical Examiners throughout the nation, the State Attorney, and the Bay County Commissioners complaining that the Florida Medical Examiner system had been compromised by racial politics.

This did not cause the resignation of FDLE commissioner Guy Tunnell as previous versions of this article indicated. He resigned over inappropriate remarks made about African-American civil rights leaders related to the case.