Posted on 02/25/2004 3:40:46 PM PST by phenn
Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The family of Terri Schiavo, on Tuesday, filed a contempt of court motion against Terri's estranged husband Michael. They say he is once again withholding information from them concerning Terri's medical condition, in violation of a 1996 court order.
Last week, Terri began vomiting and Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, asked nursing and hospice staff what had caused it and what measures were being taken to treat Terri.
Terri is currently living at Park Place Assisted Living Facility in Clearwater, Florida, and staff at the facility told the Schindlers that they were under orders from Michael's attorneys not to divulge any information.
That prompted family attorney Pat Anderson to file a contempt of court motion against Michael.
A 1996 judicial mandate by the Pinellas County Circuit Court requires Michael to provide Terri's family with current information concerning her medical condition and treatment.
"Michael Schiavo's flagrant violation of the simple and understandable terms of the 1996 order is deliberate and contumacious," the motion says. "Its harm to the Schindlers is continuing in nature, but they are not the only ones harmed."
The motion says the Schindlers are concerned for their daughter because the vomiting "could result in aspirational pneumonia, a life-threating condition for a patient such as Terri, especially if left untreated."
Mary Schindler said she is worried that the positioning of Terri's body during the tube feedings is a possible cause for the vomiting.
The 1996 court order required Michael to notify any future nursing home that provides care or medical services to Terri "that he has no objections to the nursing home discussing [Terri's] medical condition with Robert Schindler or Mary Schindler."
The order also required Michael to provide the Schindlers with any neurological reports and to inform them of any "significant changes" in Terri's medical condition.
Additionally, a court order in September of 2003 directed Michael to provide a discharge summary from Morton Plant Hospital to Terri's parents. He has yet to comply.
Related web sites: Contempt motion - http://www.zimp.org/documents/022404contempt.pdf
Court order requiring Michael to provide medical info - http://www.zimp.org/documents/1996%20Court%20Order.pdf
"When you have two arguable sides and lawyers ready to argue them, and clients ready to pay lawyers to so argue, cases like this drag on for years, even decades. Expect no early resolution of any kind. "
But we're talking about a person with a "shelf life", if you will, who is not receiving even ordinary maintenance care (note the judge wouldn't even allow a simple swallowing test!) . . . and time is of the essence.
Don and Teri Adams, who are fighting an unjust lawsuit against the Teamsters et al, said recently: "Their strategy, all along, has been to wear us down both mentally and financially—thereby making it impossible for us to achieve justice in this matter. " It's a common strategy, but Terri's life is at stake.
So the question remains: What can be done to help Terri, to remove the guardian with a conflict of interest who wants her dead? To get a judge to do the right thing, no more games?
re: Godfather -- lol!
I helped in the campaign of a judge who recently replaced an entrenched ethically-challenged judge in another state. Why should she be capriciously voted out??
Would you have any idea why Greer isn't mentioned in the official 1998 election results?
or for that matter, not mentioned in the official 2002 election results either?
(although there are LOTS of other judge retainment results)
Last year[2000], the clerk of court's office, which processes those requests, questioned whether Felos should receive money for speaking to the media for hours. The judge did not stop the payments to Felos, who receives $195 an hour and $225 an hour for appellate work.
...
In April 1993, Mrs. Schiavo's money was valued at $776,254, court records show. By April 1998, it was only down to $713,825.
The money, managed first by Barnett Bank and now SouthTrust Bank, was invested in blue chip stocks, such as Coca-Cola, Walt Disney and Proctor & Gamble; corporate and U.S. Treasury bonds; and a money market account.
{note: a stock portfolio SHOULD have doubled to TRIPLED in those five years. The dow increased from (3400 in Apr`93) to (8900 in Apr`98). Attention Gov. Bush; Terri's rehab fund needs a thorough audit! }
Schiller, the financial planner, said a portfolio such as that could have earned $70,000 or more a year in the mid and late 1990s, when the stock market was booming. "It's not unrealistic," Schiller said. "It was the best performance in decades."
Those kinds of returns could have paid for Mrs. Schiavo's expenses. Her medical expenses were paid for by health insurance and Medicaid at first but now are paid by the account. It costs about $3,000 to $5,000 a month to live in a nursing home.
Schiller said it's likely Mrs. Schiavo's money has taken a small dip because of the stock market's recent woes, but most of the money appears to have been spent on legal fees.
Schiavo, a Clearwater respiratory therapist, lives with a woman to whom he had been engaged for five years, but his marriage still puts him in a favorable financial position.
Under Florida law, Schiavo will inherit his wife's money when she dies. Had he divorced her and let her parents become her guardians, there's a chance he would get nothing and possibly have to give up some of the money he was awarded from the lawsuit.
Jane Grossman, a St. Petersburg family lawyer, said a court determines what is a marital asset during a divorce. Money awarded to a spouse for past damages or expenses is considered a marital asset because those things happened during the marriage. That money can be divided.
But compensation for future loss of earning capacity and future medical expenses belongs solely to the injured spouse, according to a 1998 2nd District Court of Appeal ruling.
In this case, Schiavo is both Mrs. Schiavo's husband and guardian and gets the money either way.
NOTE: That article indicates Jodi became Michael's fiancee SUMMER 1996 or earlier! That would be a FULL YEAR earlier than the `97 obituary that published Jodi Centonze as being "Michael's fiancee".
I'd like to compare that to when Michael first told a court that Terri WISHED to die rather than live with an inconspicuous feeding tube under her clothes.
I assume that 'may' have been (1997?) but the link for May 1997 is broken on the timeline page of terrisfight.org Do you know the correct link for that .pdf file?
THERE'S SO MUCH and then there's Judge Baird who seems to HATE JEB BUSH, the defendant in Schiavo v. Bush. Judicial activism is destroying the country and liberals and gays can only take over the country through the courts. They can't be a majority so they are going to try to steal America out from under us through guys like Greer (RINO) and the ninth circuit in San Fran. I am serious about this.
That prompted family attorney Pat Anderson to file a contempt of court motion against Michael.
A 1996 judicial mandate by the Pinellas County Circuit Court requires Michael to provide Terri's family with current information concerning her medical condition and treatment.
I don't know what's wrong with this individual. We all know he wants her dead, but he sure makes a lot of fuss about it.
I don't know if the following is helpful, but I wondered if Greer's credentials are in order. There's an issue in NY State about judges allegedly not filing their oaths, and I recently read about a judge in FL who had a problem regarding his.
You got that right!
It looks like something really good is coming together here.
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