2:36 p.m. - Central Time

The U.S. Department of Justice has just released the following statement:

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Gregory Robert Miller and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Rena Comisac announced today that the Department of Justice is reviewing evidence concerning the death of 14-year-old Martin Anderson following his collapse at a Bay County, Fla., boot camp for juvenile offenders on Jan. 5, 2006. 

The Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have been actively monitoring the state’s prosecution of the boot camp personnel, which concluded this week. 

The Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence, including the state trial transcripts, and take appropriate action if the evidence indicates a prosecutable violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes. 

This is an on-going criminal investigation; therefore, the Department can make no further comment on this case at this time.