He attempted to carefully manage the evidence after that fact, although he didn't do a great job of it. The videos were created, and we've all seen them.
But the determination of whether Terri was in a PVS at the time of the trial rested entirely on the credibility of the physicians who testified, not Michael's word or his opinion.
His unwillingness to revisit the issue of Terri's condition after the trial and especially before the tube was removed for the last time probably indicates that he was afraid that a new look might reverse the earlier ruling. I think it does. But his opinion of her condition is irrelevant from a judicial standpoint.
I'm splitting hairs here, I know, especially since I think there should have been new tests from a moral standpoint, if nothing else.
But who selected those physicians? Had Michael selected a couple of physicians who would actually try to find that Terri was cognitive, I would think the results might have been 4-0 or 3-1 instead of 2-2.
His unwillingness to revisit the issue of Terri's condition after the trial and especially before the tube was removed for the last time probably indicates that he was afraid that a new look might reverse the earlier ruling. I think it does. But his opinion of her condition is irrelevant from a judicial standpoint.
Terri's condition was not evaluated because Felos objected to having any more testing done. Had Michael instructed Felos to allow such testing, firing him if necessary, the court would have had no basis to forbid it on its own.
I'm splitting hairs here, I know, especially since I think there should have been new tests from a moral standpoint, if nothing else.
The issue of whether testing would be allowed rested with Michael rather than the court. Although the court should have required more testing even over Michael's objections, Michael himself should have allowed it even if/though the court didn't require it.
I'm not sure it would revers the outcome. Recall Browning. PVS is not a necessary prerequisite for natural death by starvation, incapacity (inability to contemporaneously provide competent medical instruction) coupled with a previously expressed wish is enough.
I think Greer didn't want to "push his luck," as a non-PVS but incapacitated Schiavo would expand the class of people that could die naturally by dehydration, from those as Browning that had written wishes, to those as Schiavo where the patient's wishes were determined by testimony of others.
I do think that the expanded class (patient's wishes found by clear and convincing evidence and patient is incapacitated) is inevitable under Florida case law. The only difference is the evidence by which the patient's wishes are divined.