Tuesday, October 16, 2007

MARTIN LEE ANDERSON TIMELINE

TIMELINE

January 5, 2006

Martin Lee Anderson's first day at the Bay County boot camp. He collapses after an altercation with the guards and is rushed to Bay Medical Center by ambulance at about 9:45 a.m. He is later life-flighted to Sacred Heart Hosptial in Pensacola.

January 6, 2006

Anderson dies around 1:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

February 13, 2006

CNN and the Miami Herald file a lawsuit for the surveillance tape from the boot camp to be released.

February 15, 2006

Anderson's parents hold a news conference asking for the release of the video. The National Black Caucus of Legislators and the NAACP join their efforts.

February 16, 2006

The results of the first autopsy by Dr. Charles Siebert of the 14th Judicial Circuit are released. Siebert says Anderson died from complications of sickle cell trait, a hereditary condition. The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the FBI open a federal probe into the case.

February 17, 2006

The surveillance video is released showing the approximately 30 minute confrontation between Anderson and the guards. Some medical experts begin disputing Dr. Siebert's cause of death.

February 21, 2006

The Bay County Sheriff's Office gives a 90-day notice to the Department of Juvenile Justice that they will be shutting down the boot camp. State Attorney for the 14th Judicial Circuit, Steve Meadows, steps aside and requests a special prosecutor to oversee the case. Gov. Jeb Bush appoints Mark Ober of the 13th Judicial Circuit.

March 10, 2006

Anderson's family exhumes his body to have a second autopsy performed.

March 13, 2006

Second autopsy performed.

March 14, 2006

Preliminary results from the second autopsy released. Doctors say Anderson did not die from sickle cell trait.

March 28, 2006

E-mails between Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell and Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen surface causing another controversy in the boot camp investigation. Tunnell was Bay County's sheriff when the boot camp first opened in 1994.

March 30, 2006

The FDLE is removed from the case by Ober's office.

April 6, 2006

The Bay County boot camp shuts its doors for good.

April 20, 2006

Tunnell resigns without giving a reason, but the move comes after widely published reports of a joke he made about the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Senator Barack Obama, who were coming to Tallahassee for a protest.

May 2, 2006

Full results of the second autopsy are released. Dr. Vernard Adams, medical examiner for the 13th Circuit, disputes Siebert’s autospy results, saying that Anderson died of suffocation because the guards blocked his airways and ammonia capsules held under his nose caused his airways to be blocked further.

July 12, 2006

Anderson's family files a $40 million lawsuit against the Bay County Sheriff's Office and Department of Juvenile Justice.

Augsut 9, 2006

Medical Examiners Commission votes to put Siebert on probation after an audit reveals 42 errors, mostly clerical, in his past autopsies.

November 20, 2006

Former DJJ employee Stephen Meredith files a lawsuit against DJJ. Meredith claims he was fired because he wouldn't help cover up Anderson's death.

November 28, 2006

Ober announces charges against the seven guards and one nurse. Each is charged with one count of manslaughter of a child.

March 27, 2007

The Bay County Sheriff's Office settles the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Anderson's family for $2.425 million. The state is expected to pay a remaining $5 million to the teen's parents.

May 23, 2007

Gov. Charlie Crist signs a claims bill, giving Anderson's parents a total $5 million settlement from the state. The same day, the Medical Examiners Commission votes not to recommend Siebert for reappointment when his term ends on June 30.

June 13, 2007

Medical Examiners Commission votes to remove Dr. Siebert from office over his work in the Martin Anderson autopsy. Specifically, the commission questions whether he actually performed some of the observations / procedures noted in the report. The complaint accuses Siebert of negligence in his duties, in violation of Florida law.

June 19, 2007

State Attorney Steve Meadows appoints Siebert as interim medical examiner.

September 24, 2007

Jury selection scheduled to begin. The Bay County Clerk of Courts office summons 1,450 residents to the Marina Civic Center over a week of proceedings.

October 3, 2007

The trial for the eight defendants begins.

Additionally (added by CAICA):

October 12, 2007

All eight defendants were acquitted; Florida University students protest

From WMBB News 13's Coverage of the Martin Lee Anderson case and trial