Boot camp death trial begins in Florida

PANAMA CITY, Fla., Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The medical history of a 14-year-old boy who died after a beating at a Florida boot camp is the main issue at the trial of those charged with killing him.

Defense lawyers say that Martin Lee Anderson was a victim of sickle cell disease, a genetic condition not usually fatal, The Miami Herald reported. A prosecutor says he was asphyxiated by the treatment given him after he collapsed.

The trial of seven Bay County Juvenile Boot Camp guards and a nurse began Wednesday.

A videotape shows the guards kicking Anderson while the nurse watched. While Assistant District Attorney Pam Bondi showed clips from the tape to the jury, she did not argue that the beating caused his death.

Anderson was beaten after he dropped out of a run designed to test his athletic capacity immediately after his arrival at the camp.

''The last conscious moments of Martin Lee Anderson's life were spent with his mouth covered by hands and ammonia being applied to his nose,'' Bondi said.

On Thursday, Dr. Thomas Andrews, New Hampshire’s chief medical examiner, testified that the run and the beating aggravated the boy’s condition, with the ammonia becoming the “tipping point,” Court TV said.