Posted on 03/09/2005 3:15:46 AM PST by amdgmary
CLEARWATER - Terri Schiavo could be taken away by state agents if the Department of Children & Families fails in its bid to delay the removal of her life-sustaining feeding tube, her husband's attorney said Tuesday. Also Tuesday, DCF attorney Keith Ganobsik announced in court that his agency will ask Judge George Greer to ban reporters from a hearing today on its request to intervene in the case.
Last week, the DCF lost a bid to keep that same request a secret.
In a document made public through the efforts of the The Tampa Tribune and News Channel 8, a DCF official said the agency needs up to 60 days to investigate ``30 detailed allegations'' of Michael Schiavo's actions as guardian of his brain-damaged wife.
``The allegations in the abuse reports go the the heart of whether abuse, neglect and/or exploitation has been perpetrated by the guardian such that any relief afforded by this court to this guardian prior to the conclusion of such investigation would be tragically misplaced,'' wrote DCF Adult Protective Services supervisor Michael Will.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, has said the allegations are nothing more than a veiled attempt by Gov. Jeb Bush to again interfere in the case.
In 2003, Bush ordered feeding resumed six days after Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed on court order. Bush intervened based on a hastily crafted measure known as Terri's Law that was subsequently found to be unconstitutional.
Greer, who found that Terri Schiavo would not want to be kept alive on artificial life support based on testimony at a January 2000 nonjury trial, has ordered the tube be removed again March 18.
Bush said last week that he would use any legal method to keep Schiavo alive.
The DCF, which is controlled by the governor, has investigated and rejected at least 89 previous abuse allegations against Michael Schiavo, Felos has said.
Now, the agency is refusing to say whether it will take Terri Schiavo into protective custody, Felos said.
``They will not state on the record that they will not take Mrs. Schiavo into custody after the 18th tube removal,'' Felos said. ``We asked specifically if this is what they will do, and that [lack of response] is very troubling.''
Felos' comments came after the latest in a series of hearings at which Terri Schiavo's parents are seeking to block their son-in-law from removing his wife from life support.
Bob and Mary Schindler say their daughter reacts to them and dispute Michael Schiavo's contention that her brain was destroyed when her heart failed in 1990 at age 26.
At Tuesday's hearing, Greer announced he will not allow the Schindlers to attempt to feed their daughter orally once the tube is removed.
The judge said he will rule today on whether to hear testimony from doctors in support of the parents' request for more medical tests.
Also, Greer is considering the Schindlers' request for a new trial based on a mistake the judge made in his finding that testimony from Michael Schiavo and his relatives showed Terri Schiavo made statements prior to falling ill indicating she would not want to be kept alive by artificial means with no hope of recovery.
In his 2000 ruling, Greer discounted testimony from a key Schindler witness based on the mistaken assumption that Karen Ann Quinlan died in the mid-1970s after a high-profile New Jersey court ruling resulted in her removal from life support.
Quinlan went on to live for nine years without life support, a fact that went unmentioned when a former close friend of Terri Schiavo testified in 2000 that Schiavo expressed disapproval of the Quinlan family decision to remove the woman from life support, Schindler attorney David Gibbs argued Tuesday.
The witness, Diane Meyer, said the exchange took place in 1982 when Schiavo was 19. Greer concluded it took place when Schiavo was a child and not ``some six years after the death of Karen Ann Quinlan.''
``It would be a travesty to think that a person's life would be ended ... based on a mistake,'' Gibbs said.
Ping. Attorney George Felos is very worried that DCF will take Terri into protective custody.
Wow!
I'm surprised that Bushnell, Felos, Michael, Greer, etc. haven't tried to escape the country yet.
This is looking better and better for Terri. DCF and all their other manifestations usually run the show for better or worse.
Greer and Felos know this, and they're panicking :-D
NEW EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGY exists today to restore her swallowing function, which did NOT exist at the time of Terri's death sentence. Florida should re-visit it's tube-feeding laws...
Schindlers not allowed to feed their daughter orally....Wow!
I agree.
That is absolutely heartless and an unwarranted interference in the life of another human. Some day we'll all have to stand before the Judgment Seat of God.
I'm not saying I don't have issues I'll have to answer for, but this refusal to give the woman even a normal chance to live will be something Greer has to answer for.
It's about time the state comes in and ends this dog and pony show.
The state of florida has to save micheal "the scumbag" schiavo george "the weasal " felos and george "the arrogant swine " greer from themselves.
This case is making a mockery of the united states judicial system and anything that is decent and good.
If "weasal" george thinks if this is a political move by jeb bush to end this chirade and travesty of justice THEN SO BE IT.
The vatican is quite correct.
If The pro (sic) right to die movement screws this up and terri rightfully goes back to her family's care this will set back them terribly and put a kink into their perverted and morally bankrupt cause for years.
Most people of decent moral character in the united states do not want legalalized euthanasia and do not want to go down that road how abortion was legalized by a backdoor legalization through the court system.
PEOPLE SHOULD NEVER MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN.
If jeb bush screws this up it should cost him his reelection.
MIKE THE SCUMBAG AND GEORGE THE WEASAL ARE CRIMINIALS AND SHOULD BE IN PRISON.
as viciously as the dcf feminazis go after all other men -- especially innocent guys trying to make buck on a construction site after having their licenses pulled because they missed a few child support payments -- one would think they'd have had this man in their sights long ago.
never, ever, ever, ever, ever trust a dcf agent.
It's called Assisted Suicide and it's illegal in this state. Greer is an idiot.
They really should be buying the tickets now to flee.That all Evidence showing that Terri is responsive is ignored and thrown out in Court makes this a case of Attempted Murder and those involved, all should be brought to Justice.This is NOT a case of turning off the machines that keep a terminally ill person alive. Remember this, Terri swallows everyday! This is about starving and dehydrating a responsive, interactive, loving young woman to death in the most horrific manner one can imagine.This is also about Wife Beating,broken bones and Torture of a disabled Human being.This is about Justice, and God Bless terri and her Family and Everyone who is standing up and fighting against this Travesty of Justice!
God Bless Terri, hang in there Terri....help is on the way.
bttt
Florida Statute says it's a felony to deny food and water to an elderly or disabled person.
http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0825/SEC102.HTM&Title=-%3E2004-%3ECh0825-%3ESection%20102#0825.102
(3)(a) "Neglect of an elderly person or disabled adult" means:
1. A caregiver's failure or omission to provide an elderly person or disabled adult with the care, supervision, and services necessary to maintain the elderly person's or disabled adult's physical and mental health, including, but not limited to, food, nutrition, clothing, shelter, supervision, medicine, and medical services that a prudent person would consider essential for the well-being of the elderly person or disabled adult; or
2. A caregiver's failure to make a reasonable effort to protect an elderly person or disabled adult from abuse, neglect, or exploitation by another person.
Neglect of an elderly person or disabled adult may be based on repeated conduct or on a single incident or omission that results in, or could reasonably be expected to result in, serious physical or psychological injury, or a substantial risk of death, to an elderly person or disabled adult.
(c) A person who willfully or by culpable negligence neglects an elderly person or disabled adult without causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the elderly person or disabled adult commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
Article the seventh [Amendment V] No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
It strikes me that the "nor's" are relative to "any person" and not only to anyone charged in a criminal case.
You cannot be deprived of "life" without due process of law. To suggest that only the criminally charged have this right is to stand justice on its head. Does anyone really dare to suggest that governments can take entirely innocent life without due process, but is only restricted when it comes to those who are criminally charged? That would be interpretive insanity.
And then there's this:
Article the tenth [Amendment VIII] Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
The response to this will be, of course, that Terri Schiavo is not criminally charged so that her death is not a "punishment."
This again, however, relies on the preposterous assumption that the entirely innocent can be treated by government in a far more cruel manner than can be the criminally convicted. Again, that is insanity.
Since it is a judge who is ordering the excruciatingly painful starvation and dehydration of Terri Schiavo, then it is clearly a government imposed "cruel and unusual" procedure.
One almost feels compelled to argue that the judge must order lethal injection.
Shouldn't Schiavo get, at least, some kind of quick death that death penalty opponents still reject as cruel and unususal? We could maybe delude ourselves then that Judge Greer is attempting to demonstrate a bit of mercy.
Yes, you'd think a longtime member of the Calvary Baptist Church would know better. (My 10-year-old wants to lead a million-kid march to storm the hospice and rescue Terri.)
Terri's Husband probably fears that they will take away his 1.7 Million dollar wrongful injury lawsuit now that he would rather have her dead.
I say take away the money and give it to her parents and end this fiasco.
Bump.
George Felos is panicking. He's making statements to the press which contradict his earlier statements on Terri. He's really scared that the bill Senator Martinez introduced yesterday will pass.
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