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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-headlinesI 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