Here come the inevitable questions about the Bay County medical examiner who made that ludicrous diagnosis of death by sickle cell trait in the boot camp beating case... it seems he has had dodgy diagnoses before:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The medical examiner who ruled last week that a teenager died of natural causes after he was struck by Panama City boot camp guards earlier signed mistake-filled autopsy reports on a man and his adult daughter killed in a September 2004 tornado, their widow and mother said Monday.
Donna Faye Reed's autopsy report, which was signed by Dr. Charles F. Siebert Jr. , said "the prostate gland and testes are unremarkable" _ organs that are part of the male genitalia. The autopsy of her father, James Terry, failed to mention major wounds on his body that were obvious, his widow says.
"I was extremely upset about my daughter having testicles _ any mother or daddy would be," Frances Terry said. "And my husband not having any visible scars really upset me, too."
She said she has been complaining about Siebert to officials for a year, with little success. And the nurse who was seen on the videotape of the beating (my sources say she stood by and watched for a full 20 minutes. The beating is said to have lasted 30...) is also drawing fire (note: there's a slideshow of pretty damning stills at that link to my old outfit in Miami):
Some state lawmakers have already called for Kristin Schmidt's job, saying she failed to take proper action when Martin Lee Anderson, 14, appeared to show signs of distress. Anderson later died.
Now, a review of public records shows the nurse was disciplined in 1993 by the state nursing board and fined $250. However, the documents do not say what she did wrong.
Schmidt has not been disciplined by the sheriff's office in connection with the Anderson case. It's not known what the nurse was previously disciplined for, but dereliction of duty in this case comes to mind...
Another note, Martin Lee Anderson was no troubled kid. He was an honor student and a generally good kid. My sources tell me that not only was he not the driver of the joy-riding jeep which belonged to his grandmother, the grandma originally declined to press charges. She was convinced to do so by either a state attorney or another official, who assured her that allowing Martin to go through the system would ensure he stayed out of trouble. The result, was clearly far more tragic.
There will be more on this story as it develops, including what Fla elected officials in both political parties are gearing up to do about the Martin Anderson case...
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Tags: Martin Lee Anderson, Florida, Juvenile Justice, Cover-ups |
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