| Did Greer adequately explain his credibility rulings, in your opinion?
My only point is that regardless of the "procedural safeguards," this is where human fallibility enters the system. In facing conflicting testimony, the judge has to decide whom to believe. Any judge doing this can make a mistake; none of us are mind-readers. Given the same set of testimony, another judge — or even Greer on a different day — might have reached an opposite conclusion on either or both of the critical questions (Terri's wishes, and whether she was capable of rehabilitation). That is why a de novo determination was so critical; it was Terri's only chance. It may be that after another long trial, the federal courts would have reached the same conclusions. But we'll never know, because the opportunity was botched. |
Greer admits now that he made an error of fact in discounting the testimony of one of Terri's friends concerning her reaction to the Quinlan case. He assumed the woman was wrong because Quinlan was dead at the time this statement was allegedly made. But in fact Quinlan had not yet died at the time; Greer was wrong. He says this would not have affected the outcome.