Husband in Right to Die Case Moves to Block Parents in New Trial

Tampa Bay Online ^ | Nov 3, 2003 | A P

[sweetliberty]

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - Attorneys for the husband seeking to carry out what he says is his wife's end-of-life wishes said in court papers Monday her parents shouldn't be allowed to enter the constitutional fight over the new law which is prolonging her life. Attorneys for Michael Schiavo, whose wife Terri is at the center of the massive legal battle over whether she lives or dies, responded to legal filings seeking a judge's permission to allow Bob and Mary Schindler to become parties in the challenge of the new law.

The law allowed Gov. Jeb Bush last month to order Terri Schiavo's feeding tube - which has kept her alive for more than a decade - be reinserted six days after her husband ordered it removed.

Michael Schiavo's attorneys said that while the Schindlers arguably had a stake in the legal battle on whether their daughter's wishes should be carried out, the legal challenge of what's been dubbed "Terri's Law" is between her husband and the governor's attorneys.

"The rights at stake in this litigation are uniquely those of Mrs. Schiavo and it is those rights that are directly affected by the challenged legislation and Governor's actions," said the legal response filed in Florida circuit Court. "The Schindlers' interest in continuing to pursue their belief that the prior litigation was wrongly decided simply does not meet the requisite legal standard for intervention."

Doctors and a judge have ruled that Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope for recovery. She suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped beating - cutting off oxygen to her brain - because of a chemical imbalance.

The conservative law firm founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson asked last week to be allowed to intervene in the case on behalf of Schindlers. Circuit Court Judge W. Douglas Baird would have to grant permission for the Schindlers to enter the lawsuit.

The couple have said their daughter had no end-of-life wishes and believe she could be rehabilitated. They also dispute that she is in a vegetative state and believe she has enough mental abilities to respond to them.

The American Center for Law & Justice said in its filing that it believes lawmakers and the governor were within their authority to intervene in the case. Her parents are seeking to be appointed their daughter's guardians and to exclude them from the case would "violate their constitutional rights to be heart," the law firm said in its filing.

[Dog Gone]

Well I sure am no attorney, not even close, But in my simple brain I say this bill IS ABOUT TERRI. It is in fact "TERRI'S LAW"......

Yes, but the trial will be about the bill, and whether it was constitutionally enacted into law. It could have been named DAVE'S LAW and it wouldn't make any difference. It might not even make a difference if my hypothetical Dave had already died. The question is whether any law of this type is valid.

[Republic]

But in any case, I think that what has happened to the odious MS is that he has gotten caught up by an even more odious person (Felos), and he's now gotten himself into a position where he can't bail.

Doesn't this just BEG the questions....

What was the DATE that Michael and Felos connected up...and who initiated it....and did Michael remember that he wanted Terri dead, er, I mean that Terri wanted to die if incapacitated somehow, in relation to his assc with Felos?

Course it could never be proved that Felos talked Michael into making up this story...but hey....any man who goes for rehabilitation money and gets it after proving he is trying to rehabilitate her, THEN denys therapy AFTER winning the money for being such a good boy, and THEN remembers, YEARS later, that by gosh Terri did not WANT any rehabilitation or even to LIVE if she were to be incapacitated...is, well, FULL OF THE STENCH of trampling on Terri's RIGHT TO LIVE! And to LIVE COMFORTABLY as POSSIBLE!!!

[Republic]

Your page on FR is, well, dog gone hysterical! Woof! Woof!

[sweetliberty]

"It maybe the perfect time for a right to life case"

Oh, but it's a "right to die" case, don't you know? Never mind that the victim isn't dying. Never mind that the victim has been struggling against every attempt on her life. Never mind that she has been permitted no therapy or environmental stimulation for the past 10 years. Never mind that she had no directives regarding starving her to death should she become disabled. Never mind that she committed no crime deserving of death. Never mind that we can't kill convicted killers or even animals in such a barbaric way. Never mind that the HINO has enough conflicts of interest to sink a battleship.

Right to die my @##! Just another step in the Nazification of Amerika!

[FITZ]

Then it's time for new laws. Michael might claim to know Terri's wishes --- but there are several witnesses that claim Terri wanted a divorce from this man because of his abuse ---- if her wishes mean anything, then he should not be a guardian. That -- and the fact that he broke his marriage vows quite some time ago. The marriage was essentially over before her "accident", it's only a technicality, adultery is grounds for a divorce almost everywhere.

[sport]

They have as much of a right as the alcu does.

[texaslil]

Not, Not, Not! If MS divorces his wife, there is still the financial incentive that she is entitiled to half his estate. That being, his expenditure of monies used to build, or buy a $ 200,000- $ 300, ooo dollar home to house his most recentm "chippie," (and bastard babies) a BMW, and who knows what else.

[livius]

The relationship between Felos and M. Schiavo appears to be very complicated and quite long-standing. Wasn't MS at one point a Felos employee? (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

I think MS was just a get-rich-quick creep. He may or may not have attempted to kill his wife, but was in any case a player, since his first child was born to another woman while he was still part of the malpractice suit, declaring that he loved his wife and just wanted the money to "help" her. His motivation was probably money rather than ideology.

But Felos does have an ideological agenda, and I suspect that the revolting MS, who probably thought that he would either get the money and run, or not get the money and just be allowed to go on sowing his children throughout the female population of Florida, has somehow discovered that he is part of Felos' agenda. What a punishment!

But I just hope Terri Schiavo can be extricated from this.

[FITZ]

That is a good point ----- what does the ACLU have to do with this case? There is no evidence at all that Terri ever wanted them to represent her or enforce a living will that she never wrote.

[Theodore R.]

It has been pointed out that nearly ALL the players in Terri's drama are native Northerners transplanted to FL -- the Schindlers, the Schiavos, George W. Greer, Felos, others?

[Deep_6]

Re:
"..the facts of the case...."

What "facts" are referring to? The Schiavo's? The Schindler's?
Or the report from the court ordered independent physician that
concurred with the two of four physicians that initially gave Terri
a thorough examination? (The two dissenting physicians also
concurred that Terri will more than likely never recover, but
also gave some allowance of a possible chance of some type
of recovery.)

Which "facts" are you referring to?

[Dog Gone]

The ACLU is co-counsel for Michael Schiavo, which gives them that right. It's unlikely that the Florida AG is going to permit (or even could permit) the Schindlers to be co-counsel for the state.

[Petronski]

The NGFBHINO Michael Schiavo is playing with fire. God help him....I'm talking about a genuine Saul of Tarsus moment!

[Chocolate Rose]

"(And he owns a lot, even if he has moved some of it into his girlfriend's name and into "other less traceable investments.")

Scumbag (MS) seems short on friends. Who can he trust? I recall the three friends of Scumbag's that made a public statement on his behalf.

1-Wilma Mackay,thefriend who joined Scumbag on Oct. 15th for the vigil at Terri's bedside.

2-Bonnie Rowley, the friend that says Scumbag "He really doesn't have a life," ...Rowley seems to be thick with jodi whatever her last name is.

3-Russ Hyden,a Gainesville Realtor. He met Scumbag in Clearwater in 91'(Hyden's wife was pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer/ She rejected chemotherapy to have the baby and died at age 39/ Hyden said Schiavo helped him through his grief/...Would it be interesting to know if Hyden's wife was starved to her death?

My searches havet'n turned up much on the first two friends mentioned.

Here is a little info on Hyden.

Hyden Photo:
http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/gainesville/paradeofhomes/img/a_37_p65.jpg

I will later check the other names that work for the same-

http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/gainesville/paradeofhomes/p65.asp

[Petronski]

God? Is that You?

Nope, didn't think so.

[Aliska]

Maybe they are approaching this case from the wrong standpoint. Florida laws, if I understand them correctly, allow that a non-terminally ill patient, who may or may not be in a persistent vegetative condition, can be starved to death. The law also allows that nourishment and water fall under the definition of medicine or artificial life support. That may be unconstitutional and someone should look into appealing those laws to the Supreme Court.

The judge is bound to follow the law as it is written, whether or not it is moral, although mandating the death penalty to anyone based on hearsay testimony from one who has a "clear and convincing" conflict of interest and "remembered" his wife's wishes years later is highly questionable.

Even if a person is truly in a persistent vegetative state, it should be illegal to starve them to death in all 50 states. That's the can of worms they seem to want to keep the lid on.

[Deep_6]

Terri's soul is locked inside a useless shell.

I consider it government ordered purgatory.

She is without a cerebral cortex; without it
she is incapable of any voluntary movement;
voluntary movement such as swallowing is
impossible for her, hence the absolute need
for the life supporting device. If it is removed,
her remaining body will die.

That life support system was inserted as a
temporary measure while testing was done to
give a sound prognosis. That was accomplished
and Terri was cited to have a permanent and
major loss of cerebral cortex; that area filled 
with spinal fluid; her condition irreversible.

Once again:

Terri's soul is locked inside a useless shell and
keeping it there should be considered government
ordered purgatory.

 

[sweetliberty]

Yeah, you're right. She really looks "dead" in those pictures...(according to Michael she was - or at least that's what he says NOW. Of course, back then, when he was still trying to get the money, he was claiming that the surgery she had was a success). These pictures are how she looked BEFORE Michael began to deny her therapy. And for your information, there have been doctors who have said that Terri CAN probably be rehabilitated to some degree. And even if she couldn't be rehabilitated, that doesn't give anybody the right to kill her. She is not brain dead. She swallows. She responds to her environment. No one is saying that she is brain dead....except Schiavo and his scum-sucking, bottom feeder lawyer, and we just know that their motivation is as pure as the driven snow. < /sarcasm >

[Libertina]

This guy has got to be sick... and hiding something. Does he realize he could end up the Most Reviled man in America?

[Petronski]

Go sell death somewhere else. No buyers here.