All 8 defendants on trial for the death of a 14-year-old boy at a state-run boot camp were found not guilty on Friday, Oct. 12, 2007.

Martin Lee Anderson died Jan. 6 after spending two hours at the Bay County Boot Camp in Panama City the previous day. He had collapsed during calisthenics. A videotape from the now-defunct camp shows seven drill instructors holding the boy’s arms, taking him to the ground and covering his mouth while a nurse watches.

What’s your opinion of the verdict?

Please don’t believe this was a outstanding kid just being victimized. Kids like this are violent, out of control and a danger to society. The guards would not just pull a kid out of a cell and kill him, this kid did something to bring this on himself. Try to understand that a 14 year old is just as dangerous as a 30 year old. Many of these kids are not children, they are small, ignorant, and with out proper reasoning capacities.

The hidden power brokers in Florida will not allow justice to be served . 

They have zero tolerance for trouble makers.  Only the wealthy children of Florida have the means to avoid boot camps. It is the same for most things in life.

The final outcome will show that young persons of color or white have no rights.  The young man was merely a toy in the hands of his captures.  It is a real wonder how the video tape surfaced, I expect it will not be made available as evidence in a court trial.

Well, all of those in the black community who complained of a coverup should be happy now. Justice is being served. What I question is how could this individual’s projected life be worth forty million dollars? Where was the family when this kid was going wrong? Were they there to discipline him? Probably not. And now they want the taxpayers to pay on outlandish fee for their lack of parenting. It will be interesting to see what the outcome of this is.

It is about time these guards and the nurse pay for their crime against this boy.  It was atrocious and I sincerely thank Mark Ober for doing an outstanding job in his investigation.  All involved should receive jail time!!  The nurse involved is NO EXCEPTION.  Justice has been served.  I wonder if these guards and nurse can really sleep at night.  They should be punished to the full extent of the law.

I don’t understand why the nurse is being charged. Her job does NOT include instructing the guards in their duties. Her job does NOT include deciding whether they are using undue force. Her job does NOT include determining if the guards are being threatened or not. Her job does NOT include risking her own safety by jumping into a violent pile of several adult men and an adult sized criminal “boy” to “assess his condition”. Even if she had attempted to jump in, the assessment probably would’ve been haphazard and flawed due to her preoccupation with trying to avoid being pulled into the fight too. Her job DOES include taking vital signs which she apparently did at one point and they were within normal limits. At best I can see her license being taken away because she didn’t report what happened or because maybe she handed the guard the ammonia and did not instruct him in the appropriate use of the capsule. And people should consider that perhaps the reason she seems unaffected by the violence isn’t because she’s a bad nurse but instead it COULD be that she sees violence all the time in the course of her job, or because it ISN’T HER JOB TO STOP THE GUARDS, even if she is a nurse. They may try to say this to cover their rears, but it is not the case. That’s like saying your hospital security guard reports to the bedside nurse. ridiculous. It is safe to assume the guards knew their jobs but not the limitations associated with it. period. The nurse should be investigated appropriately by the board of nursing but not charged with manslaughter or murder.

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I hope they all get what’s coming to them, including the nurse! I don’t know how they can live with themselves. They deserve only as much compassion as they showed that boy, which was “0”. There should have been a much better trained staff there and the boy should have been placed somewhere more condusive to his real needs.

Politics have no place in the criminal justice system and this case is a good example.  There may have been mistakes, bad judgment, but these camp officials should not be on trial for murdering this juvenile.  The minute the Governor got involved and ordered a second autopsy and special prosecutor, this case was all about politics not justice.  Just my opinion.

The camp officials most certainly should be on trial for their actions. They need to prove that the force they used—which resulted in a fatality—was necessary. Now I do agree that if the family is asking for $40MM, that is absurd. What would that amount be based on?

rjh1954 - 11 October 2007 10:10 AM

Politics have no place in the criminal justice system and this case is a good example.  There may have been mistakes, bad judgment, but these camp officials should not be on trial for murdering this juvenile.  The minute the Governor got involved and ordered a second autopsy and special prosecutor, this case was all about politics not justice.  Just my opinion.

Because they are government employees, they should not be held accountable for their actions?  I disagree with you on this.  Excuse me, but there is politics in the criminal justice system, and it is there to stay.  Aren’t you happy to be able to vote for who you think is the best candidate?  I am.

The second autopsy proved the first one, and the coronor were wrong, which resulted in the first coronor losing his license.  It also proved that he was involved in a cover-up, in my opinion.  If this was your son, you would want the accurate information, not some trumped up BS that would have allowed these people on trial to go scott-free. 

I’m glad these people are on trial, I hope they are used as an example, and I don’t care what this boy had done, nobody deserves to be beaten for 30 minutes, killed and those responsible not be charged, tried and punished.

10 years in jail would be too light a sentence for these cold-blooded murderers!!!!

Not guilty on all counts, racism is alive and well in Florida and if you wear a uniform you can actually get away with homicide.  I’m not saying this kid was an angel, he wasn’t and did deserve to be in the boot camp but the punisment didn’t fit the crime, he didn’t deserve to be killed.  Maybe the district attorney went with too high a charge but to get away with what they did is a crime.

THIS IS A DISGRACE!!!!!IF THIS WAS ONE OF MY KIDS,I WOOD STOP AT NOTHING TO SEE JUSTISE!!!!!DISGUSTING,TOTALLY DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all, the kid was a punk.  He was in there for a reason.  He was not a valued and useful member of society. 
Apparently, the only people who think a crime was committed is the family since both the Judge and the jury found these guards and the nurse not guilty. 

I’m proud to be an American, and to be able to live free in this nation.  This is the best country with the best Justice system.  For those of you who do not believe it, move to Mexico.

I am appauled at our justice system.  The video clearly shows those officers pouncing on that boy. Grant it, he was not in there for good behaviour nor for being an honor roll student but he was someones child.  The fact that one of the attorneys had the testicles to say, “They are having a party!” You are a cold hearted person and I pray that God will have mercy on you.  That’s o.k. though, Vengeance is mine Saith the Lord.