Terri's Fight - (Daily Thread/Updates) November 19-23

Thanks for the nomination! };^D)

"Thanks for the nomination"

And I second it.

it was reported that Jodi is a "devout Catholic,"

How many bastard children can she have by him before she loses her "devout" standing?

>> I think things are set in motion now to where, if Terri dies, he might have a lot more problems than he does right now.

Darn shame the state of Florida retired "Old Sparky." Here, anyone can see from this news story a few years ago how much kinder Old Sparky was this was than the starvation / dehydration death to be inflicted by Michael Schiavo, George Felos and Judge Greer:

On the morning of March 25, 1997, Old Sparky was ready to blow.

When Pedro Medina, convicted of stabbing an Orlando schoolteacher to death, was strapped into the chair and zapped with 2,300 volts, his skull literally caught fire. Flames shot more than a foot into the air, smoke filled the chamber, and visitors were hustled from the viewing room.

I guess they have a New Sparky, but it's pretty messy too. I think there are some photos somewhere on the 'Net on what it did to the first guy executed. It sort of turned his face inside out. I could accept that for some cases.

...Sparky ~~was this~~ was than...

Governor Jeb Bush Seeks Full, Fair Hearing to Defend Terri's Law

The way things look, I'd say a small herd.

Where is this "netiquette" rule posted?

The Terri Schiavo Case

Jury trial sought to decide what Schiavo
wanted

Attorneys for the governor want to defend "Terri's Law"
and have witnesses determine Terri Schiavo's wishes.

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer
Published November 20, 2003

Gov. Jeb Bush's attorneys want a jury trial to decide if Terri Schiavo really
wanted to die rather than be kept alive by artificial means.

The attorneys also think the judge presiding over the lawsuit filed by Mrs.
Schiavo's husband challenging "Terri's Law" is biased and want him removed
from the case.

In a flurry of legal filings late Wednesday, Bush's office defended the
constitutionality of the state law adopted Oct. 21 that allowed the governor to
force doctors to reinsert Mrs. Schiavo's feeding tube.

Ken Connor, the governor's lead attorney in the case, said the governor has
the right to defend the law at trial and call witnesses to determine Mrs.
Schiavo's wishes.

"Michael Schiavo is going to have to establish (at trial) that he has standing to
represent his wife's interests," Connor said. "He's going to have to establish that
her right to privacy is infringed, that the governor is interfering with her health
care choice.

"You can't just say that. You have to prove it," he said.

Connor said the governor wasn't a party to previous litigation over Mrs.
Schiavo, including the 2000 trial at which witnesses testified about her wishes.

"Simply because the governor is an elected official doesn't mean he is a
second-class citizen," Connor said. "People don't get to just come in and make
these bold assertions without having to prove them at trial."

George Felos, the lawyer representing Mrs. Schiavo's husband, Michael
Schiavo, said the governor is simply seeking to delay the case at any cost.
Felos said Mrs. Schiavo's wishes were determined by a court, and there is no
need to repeat the process.

"To the general public, this is why they hate lawyers and they have disdain for
the legal system," Felos said. "It is the legal system at its worst when one side
just tries to set up smoke screens and tries to file anything to divert attention
from real issues to delay a real reckoning."

Felos also said a jury trial is not required in the case because juries only decide
factual issues. Michael Schiavo's constitutional challenge of "Terri's Law"
involves only legal issues, Felos said.

"There are no factual issues in the case," he said. "It's not disputed that a court
ruled that the feeding tube be removed. It's not disputed the Legislature passed
the law. It's not disputed what the law said."

Mrs. Schiavo, who is severely brain damaged, has been kept alive by a feeding
tube for more than 13 years after her heart stopped from a suspected
potassium imbalance. Many doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state
and cannot recover. Her parents disagree with that diagnosis.

At a trial in 2000, her husband and two members of his family said Mrs.
Schiavo made statements during her life indicating she would never have
wanted to be kept alive by artificial means.

A judge agreed, ordering her feeding tube removed on Oct. 15. Mrs. Schiavo
went six days without food and water before Bush ordered the tube reinserted.

Wednesday's filings by Connor came just minutes before the deadline set by
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Douglas Baird for Bush's office to file legal
arguments defending "Terri's Law."

Bush filed the brief, and more.

Connor sought Baird's disqualification from the case, saying a ruling Baird
issued last week lifting a stay in the case showed he has pre-judged the lawsuit
and is ready to rule against Bush.

In that ruling, Baird criticized "Terri's Law" as a violation of Mrs. Schiavo's
constitutional rights. But Baird also said he wanted the state to file legal
arguments before reaching a final decision.

"The court has, in the short time that this case has been pending, made it clear
that the governor cannot be afforded a fair and impartial forum" in the case, the
governor's motion said.

Felos said a judge can't be removed based on a ruling simply because a litigant
disagrees with the decision.

"That motion is so out of line it is arguably frivolous," Felos said.

Connor's brief defending "Terri's Law" discarded arguments that it violates
Mrs. Schiavo's right to privacy, which guarantees citizens the right to make
decisions about their own medical care.

Connor said the law doesn't violate Mrs. Schiavo's constitutional rights.
Instead, it simply provides an extra layer of protection for her, he said.

"Her right to privacy is actually furthered and enhanced," Connor said.

Felos ridiculed the argument, saying, "An extra layer of protection? That's a
nice sounding platitude. Who does Terri need protection from? The courts?"

Tampa Bay headlines

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/20/Tampabay/Jury_trial_sought_to_.shtml

LOL... I like this artical better...LOL

Governor requests Schiavo judge out
He took a page from Alice in Wonderland to say the jurist must
be pulled off the case.

By Sean Mussenden | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted November 20, 2003

Gov. Jeb Bush demanded Wednesday that the
judge handling the constitutional challenge of
"Terri's Law" remove himself from the case,
comparing him to the Queen of Hearts in
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

In legal papers, the governor also asked that a
jury reconsider whether Terri Schiavo would
have wanted to be kept alive artificially in what
doctors have described as a persistent
vegetative state.

Terri Schiavo went for six days without food and
water last month after her husband, Michael
Schiavo, won a court order to remove the
feeding tube that has kept her alive for 13
years. Florida lawmakers and Bush intervened,
enacting in two days a law that allowed the
governor to order that the feeding tube be
reinserted.

In their filings Wednesday, Bush's attorneys
accused Pinellas County Circuit Judge W.
Douglas Baird of a "biased" approach to the
case.

Bush's concern

Baird chided Bush last week for failing to file
legal arguments defending his decision to
restore Terri Schiavo's tube, saying that each
day Bush delayed doing so, her constitutional
rights presumably were being violated. Baird
was careful to say that he was not offering a
final judgment in the lawsuit, filed against the
governor by Michael Schiavo.

Nonetheless, conservative activist Ken Connor,
who is Bush's lead attorney in the case, said
Baird needed to be removed because it
appeared he had prejudged the matter before
fully considering the governor's legal
arguments.

Reached Wednesday evening, Baird's
secretary said the judge thought it would be
inappropriate to comment. Conner said the
next step will be for Baird to rule on the motion
of whether to remove himself.

In his filing, Connor said the governor viewed
Baird's comments in the same light as a trial in
the Lewis Carroll story, in which the King and
Queen of Hearts sit in judgment of the Knave of
Hearts, who's accused of stealing tarts.

"Let the jury consider their verdict," the King
said.

"No, no!" said the Queen. "Sentence first --
verdict afterwards." When Alice protests, the
Queen yells, "Off with her head!"

A matter of law

In an order issued last week, the judge
reminded Bush that courts have repeatedly
found that Terri Schiavo made it clear that she
would not have wanted to be kept alive
artificially. The 39-year-old Pinellas County
woman suffered severe brain damage in 1990
after her heart stopped, depriving her brain of
oxygen.

Her wishes have been "finally and conclusively
established as a matter of law," Baird wrote.

Because Bush was not a party to the earlier
lawsuit, Connor argued that what a previous
court determined were her wishes should have
no bearing in this case. So Wednesday, Bush's
attorneys requested a jury be brought into to
redetermine Terri Schiavo's wishes.

Michael Allen, a constitutional law professor at
Stetson University College of Law, said the
request for another examination of her wishes
runs counter to standard legal procedure.

"Their findings may have been right, they may
have been wrong, but they were a final
judgment," he said. "It doesn't matter that the
governor was not involved in the earlier case,
just as it doesn't matter that you and I weren't
involved with the case."

Defending privacy issue

Bush on Wednesday also offered his first
constitutional defense of his intervention in the
nationally watched right-to-die case.

Michael Schiavo's attorneys, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida
and some constitutional-law experts, argue that Terri's Law violates her
right to privacy, which guarantees the right to refuse unwanted medical
treatment. They also contend that because it effectively allowed Bush to
throw out six years of court proceedings, it also violates the rigid
separation of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of
government.

But Bush's attorneys argued that the law strengthens Schiavo's right to
privacy because it orders an independent guardian to review her case.
And, they argued, while Schiavo has that right, it must be balanced against
other "compelling state interests," including preserving human life,
protecting the rights of disabled people such as herself and protecting the
rights of family members.

Terri Schiavo's parents, Mary and Bob Schindler, have waged an
international campaign against their son-in-law to keep their daughter
alive.

"The disdain the governor has for Florida's privacy right is just astounding,"
said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties
Union of Florida, which has joined Michael Schiavo's lawsuit. "He's saying
that the desire of your family members is more important than what you
would have wanted."

The ACLU and Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, have repeatedly
criticized Bush for what they call attempts to delay this case on technical
points. Simon said the request to remove Baird appeared to be another
attempt at delay, as did the request for a jury.

"The fact is this case is about whether this law is constitutional or not,"
Felos told The Associated Press. "I don't think the trial court is going to
allow them to reopen six years of litigation."

Connor, in a conference call with reporters, dismissed suggestions that
that Terri's Law violated the wall between the branches of government,
saying the Legislature passes laws that affect court decisions regularly.
For example, he cited a law that allows people behind bars to request DNA
testing in closed cases.

"What the Legislature has done here is not novel," Connor said.

But Bruce Winick, who teaches constitutional law at the University of Miami,
said the comparison was invalid. He said the DNA law gave a broad class
of people the right to another court review, while "Terri's Law" was tailored
to overturn a specific court decision.

In a statement, Bush said he was looking forward to proving his case in
court.

"We are confident the Florida law protects rather than diminishes individual
rights as outlined in the Constitution, and welcome the opportunity to prove
that fact in court."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-asecschiavo20112003nov20,1,234663.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

I haven't had time to read all the posts in this thread, so forgive me if this has been posted. Got to run, will be back later today sometime. Continued prayers being sent.

Michael: Block Bone Scan Showing Possible Abuse of Terri
Schiavo

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 19, 2003

http://www.lifenews.com/bio146.html

Pinellas Park, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Judge George
Greer will hear a motion tomorrow filed by Michael
Schiavo that would prevent discovery of information
regarding a bone scan conducted on Terri Schiavo that
shows she may have been a victim of physical abuse.

While most media outlets have reported that Terri Schiavo collapsed at
home in 1990 as a result of a potassium imbalance, Terri's family has
long suspected that the real cause may have been physical abuse at
the hand of her estranged husband Michael.

A bone scan conducted on Terri in March 1991 showed she had several
fractures and was the victim of "abnormal activity" that caused
"previous traumas," indicating she may have been beaten or abused.

Attorneys for Terri's family had planned to depose Dr. Campbell
Walker, the radiologist who conducted the bone scan, on Friday to
obtain his further analysis of it.

Michael's motion asks the court to block the deposition saying that the
court has already dealt with the bone scan in previous hearings.

Terri's parents Bob and Mary Schindler hope the information from Dr.
Campbell will help show Judge Greer that Michael is unfit to be Terri's
guardian. A case to change guardianship to Terri's brother Bob is
pending before Greer.

The Schindlers have asked Pinellas County State Attorney Bernie
McCabe on several occasions to call a grand jury to investigate the
bone scan as well as other abuses during Michael's guardianship.

At the time, McCabe declined to investigate saying too much time had
passed between the collapse and the scan.

Also, doctors other than those selected by Michael's attorney have
reviewed Terri's
medical records.

"It was found that a heart attack did not cause Terri's collapse as
everyone was led to believe. Rather, according to one physician, Terri
may have been a strangulation victim," Pamela Hennessy, a
representative of the family, told LifeNews.com previously.

The Schindlers say Michael also wants to remove any possible evidence
that could be used to substantiate accusations of wrongdoing.

Michael wants Terri's body cremated if she dies, which would deny any
chance the family has to validate a long-held suspicion.

"Michael has instructed the judge to cremate her body upon her death,
which adds even more suspicion to what really happened to Terri," Bob
Schindler said.

He added, "We're trying to stop the cremation from happening if Terri
does die, so
hopefully, we get to the process of investigating what may have
happened to Terri that evening."

In September, three nurses filed affidavits saying Michael has withheld
proper medical care from Terri.

"He's been trying to kill her -- that's the bottom line," said Carla Sauer
Iyer, a 39-year-old registered nurse who cared for Terri Schiavo at a
nursing home in 1995 and '96. She says Terri has said words such as
"Mommy," "help me" and "pain."

George Felos, the assisted suicide advocate who is Michael's attorney,
calls the nurse's statements, "a bunch of garbage." He claims Michael
has been insistent that Terri receive the best medical care possible.

Related web sites:
Terri's Family - http://www.terrisfight.org
Terri Schiavo's bone scan -
http://www.terrisfight.org/images/bonescan.jpg

Can someone reference the post in which they said they called Greer's office and were told that they are holding up the case to Dismiss Michael as guardian.. basically holding it up because his cohorts are trying to get the actions of the State of Florida re: Legislature and Jeb's executive order declared unconstitutional? It is very important. I cannot find it right now. Please e-mail to me at pc93@bellsouth.net.

Hmmmmmm....... Wonder if Felos and Michael have some wealthy heart-diseased individual that is way back on the list for a new heart.

This could be an under the table deal. Maybe it's a friend of Judge Greer's or a family member.

Yes, Judge John Lenderman's sister, Martha, is on the hospice board. I'm not sure I'd trust anyone in the probate section of Pinellas county right now.

Thanks for all the articles and evaluations. I am keeping up and writing letters to every person on every list. Can't always post. Keep up the good work.

bump

Jodi is a devout Catholic in name only. There are literally thousands of Catholics who still consider themselves Catholic, and all the while they speak up for things that are totally against the Church teachings. The first that comes to mind is abortion. If you've ever heard of "Catholics for a Free Choice", they are a prime example of a group that calls themselves Catholic, but are way out of line with Catholic doctrine. Tom Daschle and Ted Kennedy are but a couple of other prominent names that like to consider themselves Catholic, but should be being refused communion, if their priests have any guts. Whether Jodi describes herself as Catholic is simply her own opinion. My opinion is vastly different from hers.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1021521/posts?page=150#150

This is the post by Lone Voice in the hinterlands that you are looking for, I think. I'll e-mail you a copy as well.

Felos ridiculed the argument, saying, "An extra layer of protection? That's a nice sounding platitude. Who does Terri need protection from? The courts?"

YES! Among others...

>> "There are no factual issues in the case," [Felos] said. "It's not disputed that a court ruled that the feeding tube be removed. It's not disputed the Legislature passed the law. It's not disputed what the law said."

Good old George has both forks of his tongues greased.

What he calls "facts" are legal fictions -- false findings by a corrupt judge and a black-hearted lawyer: himself. The net effect is to use the legal system to commit murder.

If Terri dies, George Felos is just as guilty of her murder as Michael Schiavo. And that's a fact.