Posted on 03/25/2005 9:27:34 PM PST by Moxie18
« Email Media Outlets | Main March 25, 2005 Terri Schiavo Expresses Her Wishes; Attorney and Sister Testify in Court
The following are Terri Schiavo's sister, Suzanne Vitadamo's and Attorney Barbara Weller's sworn testimony submitted to Judge Greer in Pinellas County Court today.
Barbara Weller, Esq., is putting her entire professional reputation as an officer of the court on the line. If she is not telling the truth she would not only be found guilty of perjury, she would sacrifice her career by being disbarred.
DECLARATION OF SUZANNE VITADAMO STATE OF FLORIDA ) COUNTY OF PINELLAS )
I, SUZANNE VITADAMO, sister of the Petitioner in the above-styled case, hereby declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I visited with Terri at various times during the day on March 18, 2005, the day her feeding tube was removed.
2. Terri was in good spirits that morning. My husband, Michael Vitadamo and Terri's aunt, Claudia Tamarro, were in the room with myself and Attorney Barbara Weller when Terri attempted to speak to Mrs. Weller. A female Pinellas Park police office were standing at the door of Terri's room.
3. Terri was sitting up in her lounge chair and Mrs. Weller and I were sitting on her bed. My aunt was standing at the found of Terri's chair.
4. Mrs. Weller stood up and learned over Terri. She took her arms in her hands. Mrs. Weller begged Terri to try to say, "I want to live." Terri's eyes opened wide, she looked at Mrs. Weller with great concentration and said, "Ahhhhhhh." Then, with great effort, she screamed, "Waaaaaaaa" so loudly that Michael Vitadamo and the female police officer who were then standing together outside Terri's door, clearly heard her. Terri had a look of anguish on her face and she seemed to be struggling hard, but was she could not complete the sentence. Terri began to cry and Mrs. Weller and I began to stroke Terri's face and hair to comfort her.
5. Mrs. Weller and I continued to visit and talk with Terri, along with other family members who came and went in the room.
FURTHER YOUR DECLARANT SAYETH NOT.
I hereby declare, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. Executed this 22nd day of March, 2005, at Seminole, Florida.
SUZANNE VITADAMO Sworn to and subscribed before me this 25nd day of March, 2005.
----------------------
DECLARATION OF BARBARA J. WELLER STATE OF FLORIDA ) COUNTY OF PINELLAS )
I, BARBARA WELLER, Attorney for Respondents in the above-styled case, hereby declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I visited with Terri at various times during the day on March 18, 2005, the day her feeding tube was removed.
2. During the morning I was in the room with Terri and various members of her family. Terri was in good spirits that morning. The mood in her room was jovial, particularly around noontime, as we knew Congressional attorneys were on the scene and many were working hard to save Terri's life. For most of that time, I was visiting and talking with Terri along with Terri's sister Suzanne Vitadamo, Suzanne's husband, and Terri's aunt, who was visiting from New York to help provide support for the family. A female Pinellas Park police office was stationed at the door outside Terri's room.
3. Terri was sitting up in her lounge chair, dressed and looking alert and well. Her feeding tube had been plugged in around 11 a.m. and we all felt good that she was still being fed. Suzanne and I were talking, joking, and laughing with Terri, telling her she was going to go to Washington D.C. to testify before Congress, which meant that finally Terri's husband Michael would be required to fix her wheelchair. After that Suzanne could take Terri to the mall shopping and could wheel her outdoors every day to feel the wind and sunshine on her face, something she has not been able to do for more than five years.
4. At one point, I noticed Terri's window blinds were pulled down. I went to the window to raise them so Terri could look at the beautiful garden outside her window and see the sun after several days of rain. As sunlight came into the room, Terri's eyes widened and she was obviously very pleased.
5. Suzanne and I continued to talk and joke with Terri for probably an hour or more. At one point Suzanne called Terri the bionic woman and I heard Terri laugh out loud heartily. She laughed so hard that for the first time I noticed the dimples in her cheeks.
6. The most dramatic event of this visit happened at one point when I was sitting on Terri's bed next to Suzanne. Terri was sitting in her lounge chair and her aunt was standing at the foot of the chair. I stood up and learned over Terri. I took her arms in both of my hands. I said to her, "Terri if you could only say ‘I want to live' this whole thing could be over today." I begged her to try very hard to say, "I want to live." To my enormous shock and surprise, Terri's eyes opened wide, she looked me square in the face, and with a look of great concentration, she said, "Ahhhhhhh." Then, seeming to summon up all the strength she had, she virtually screamed, "Waaaaaaaa." She yelled so loudly that Michael Vitadamo, Suzanne's husband, and the female police officer who were then standing together outside Terri's door, clearly heard her. At that point, Terri had a look of anguish on her face that I had never seen before and she seemed to be struggling hard, but was unable to complete the sentence. She became very frustrated and began to cry. I was horrified that I was obviously causing Terri so much anguish. Suzanne and I began to stroke Terri's face and hair to comfort her. I told Terri I was very sorry. It had not been my intention to upset her so much. Suzanne and I assured Terri that her efforts were much appreciated and that she did not need to try to say anything more. I promised Terri I would tell the world that she had tried to say, "I want to live."
7. Suzanne and I continued to visit and talk with Terri, along with other family members who came and went in the room, until about 2:00 p.m. when we were all told to leave after Judge Greer denied yet another motion for stay and ordered the removal of the feeding tube to proceed. As we left the room, the female police officer outside the door was valiantly attempting to keep from crying.
8. About four in the afternoon, several hours after the feeding tube was removed, I returned to Terri's room. By that time she was alone except for a male police officer now standing inside the door. When I entered the room and began to speak to her, Terri started to cry and tried to speak to me immediately. It was one of the most helpless feelings I have ever had. Terri was looking very melancholy at that point and I had the sense she was very upset that we had told her things were going to get better, but instead, they were obviously getting worse. I had previously had the same feeling when my own daughter was a baby who was hospitalized and was crying and looking to me to rescue her from her hospital crib, something I could not do. While I was in the room with Terri for the next half hour or so, several other friends came to visit and I did a few press interviews sitting right next to Terri. I again raised her window shade, which had again been pulled down, so Terri could at least see the garden and the sunshine from her lounge chair. I also turned the radio on in her room before I left so that when she was alone, she would at least have some music for comfort.
9. Just before I left the room, I leaned over Terri and spoke right into her ear. I told her I was very sorry I had not been able to stop the feeding tube from being taken out and I was very sorry I had to leave her alone. But I reminded her that Jesus would stay right by her side even when no one else was there with her. When I mentioned Jesus' Name, Terri again laughed out loud. She became very agitated and began loudly trying to speak to me again. As Terri continued to laugh and try to speak, I quietly prayed in her ear, kissed her, placed her in Jesus' care, and left the room.
FURTHER YOUR DECLARANT SAYETH NOT.
I hereby declare, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. Executed this 22nd day of March, 2005, at Seminole, Florida.
BARBARA J. WELLER Sworn to and subscribed before me this 25nd day of March, 2005.
Doesn't matter...
Cause Greer is gonna say
"aaaaahhh donn't wannnnt yooouu tooo live"
That's the bottom line..
heartbreaking...
Hearbreaking that the monster Judge Greer wants her dead and doesn't care what the evidence is, or her mental state.
He is a butcher.
Agreed. How utterly tragic.
.
God help us all. Terri is being held captive - helpless; while we are all captives of the bench and helpless.
I feel like I am in some other country. She would have a better chance in Iraq. Our boys would just go in and rescue her.
If by some miracle Terri Schiavo got up and spoke clearly in no uncertain terms "I want to live" with 100 witnesses, blind Judge Greer would still have her murdered.
God Bless this attorney. She has more spine than anyone in this case. And Judge Greer will be loathe to ignore the sworn testimony of an officer of the court. Please Dear God, let this woman be Terri's guardian angel.
May God forgive our impotence.
Since Terri understands what is being said and has all along, I often wondered why didn't have her parents attorney w/two witness (video, if possible) ask Terri would she want to divorce MS.
All it needs is a "Yes" from Terri to file for a divorce. Then, hopefully, she could have signed the papers. Her signature could just be an "X". Since she has been estranged from MS for 15 years, the divorce could be automatic.
Apparently in the wonderland crazyworld that is Judge Greer's world.. things are different.. for instance, a judge cannot legally direct the Governor of the state NOT to enforce a state statute.. just one of many illegal things this "judge" has done.
Didn't proof read. Hopefully, my message is understandable. I'll call it a day now.
Greer is the ONLY judge that has established a finding of facts, flawed, biased, hearsay facts. Every judicial review beyond Greer's court has placed a judicial oligarchy's rubber stamp upon his findings. There is far too much now known of Michael Schiavo and his euthanasia crusader attorney and the obstinate refusal by Greer for any new facts to be entered. Terri Schaivo cannot die soon enough to suit the crooked judicial system in Florida. If she lives and happens to improve through rehaibilitation therapy similar to that she recieved in the first three years after her collapse (and she showed significant improvements through theraoy), the embarrassment to the democrats and their agenda to feed death and degeneracy to their yammering constituencies would be huge and set the leftist societal engineers back decades. NOW Terri must be put down for expediency sake, regardless of her level of cognition. [Has it occurred to fellow Freepers yet how many newbies have come out of the woodwork to niggle and chide, lie and dissemble, seeking to create diversion and argument? Surely there are not this many Freepers who actually cheer for Terri to die.]
I second it. spring cleaning.
I dunno. I suspect she filed an affadavit because it would very likely be published. She got her testimony on the internet immediately (last Friday if I remember correctly), but it may get more attention now that it is in affadavit form.
When a lawyer is a witness he/she has to be sworn just like everyone else.
When acting as a lawyer rather than a witness then the lawyers's statements to the court (which are not evidence) are presumed to be true but if found to be false the lawyer is subject to discipline.
I read an article by Barbara Weller early this week in a newspaper saying basicially the same thing, only I think she said Terry responded by saying "ahhh" and "waa" and not "I wan", so this is different then the article Weller wrote for the newspapers. I am not certain, but I think it was the Tampa Trib.
In any case, whichever words (or parts of words) were used, what I want to know is why in the world wasn't this information included in either of the complaints to the federal courts together with a claim that there was newly discovered evidence that warranted a hearing to determine if these claims were accurate, including perhaps medical testing to see if there is the ability to voice, no matter how rudimentary, some expressions?
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