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Posted on 02/28/2005 7:08:08 AM PST by floriduh voter
Greer to Rule Tomorrow on Journalists access to DCF Report:
Just in:
Media outlets argue to open DCF documents in Terri Schiavo case
MITCH STACY
Associated Press
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A newspaper and television station argued Wednesday the public has a right to know what is in a Florida Department of Children & Families document that seeks to include the agency in the Terri Schiavo case.
Media General, which owns The Tampa Tribune and WFLA television, sued to get access to the document in which the agency is asking to get involved in the court battle over the fate of the severely brain-damaged woman.
DCF attorneys opposed opening the documents to the public, citing a need to protect the privacy of witnesses even if they are not named in the petition.
Terri Schiavo, 41, is at the center of a life-or-death legal battle between her husband and parents. She suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago and Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer has granted Michael Schiavo permission to disconnect the feeding tube keeping her alive on March 18.
Court-appointed doctors have ruled she is in a persistent vegetative state and her husband, Michael Schiavo, contends his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially in that condition. Her parents argue their daughter had no such death wish and counter with their own medical experts who say Terri Schiavo could get better with rehabilitation and say despite her brain damage she laughs, cries and interacts with them.
Media General attorney Gregg Thomas told Greer that a balance must be struck between the public's right to know about the high-profile legal case and privacy rights of those involved in a DCF investigation. Attorneys involved in the case have said the agency is looking into reports that Terri Schiavo was abused and wants Greer to issue a 60-day stay on the tube's removal while DCF investigates.
"The greater access there is, the more the people can judge the actions of the DCF, judge the actions of the governor and judge your honor's actions," Thomas said.
Attorneys for Bob and Mary Schindler said the family did not object with opening the document, but prefer it stay closed.
"They will do a better job investigating this if it remains confidential," said David Gibbs, the Schindlers attorney.
Deborah Bushnell, an attorney for Michael Schiavo, said he did not have a position on the issue.
"Mr. Schiavo has nothing to hide on this matter," she said.
Greer said he would rule on Thursday.
Meanwhile Wednesday, the Schindlers filed a motion asking Greer to drop his February 2000 order that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube should be removed. They argued the judge improperly discounted testimony of a witness who told of how upset Terri Schiavo had been with the case of Karen Ann Quinlan and her parents' decision to remove her from life support.
Quinlan's parents waged an internationally watched court battle to disconnect their daughter from life support after a 1975 overdose. The Quinlan's won the court's permission to disconnect their daughter from a respirator, but she did not die until a decade later.
Greer based his ruling that Terri Schiavo would not want to be kept alive artificially on testimony from Michael Schiavo and his relatives that she had told them at various times her thoughts on not wanting to be kept on artificial life support.
The Schindler's latest legal filing is among 16 pending motions that the Schindlers hope to have heard in an attempt to block the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
The issue has become politically charged and Gov. Jeb Bush has said he is searching for a way to keep Terri Schiavo alive. DCF's attempt to intervene in the case came last month as Greer moved to set a date for the tube's removal.
I'm dumbfounded that this man is a Bishop in the Catholic Church. He believes that Terri should be starved and dehydrated to death. This is just plain evil and in direct opposition to the Pope and the Vatican's teachings.
I thought I read somewhere that one of the Bishops in Florida came out in support of Terri. I haven't had a chance to catch up on Terri's threads. Have any of the Florida Bishops stood up for Terri?
Thank you.
Thanks for making me laugh. It was so encouraging that the Pope - practically on his death bed - issued a statement in support of Terri's life. So VERY DISAPPOINTING that this Bishop uses the Pope's statement for toilet paper. Amazing, isn't it?
I've not seen updates on any motions presented or ruled on today .. florduh voter usually stays on top of those things.
Yeah .. he actually made Michael Schiavo god, didn't he? This "bishop" has shattered his vows and allegiance to the tenets of his Church and the unwavering Church precept of the sanctity of life.
Please see Post# 881
Thanks for posting the AP article. Smart move on the Schindler's attorney's part - they prefer to keep it confidential. That means that if Greer rules NOT to release the information, he's siding with the Schindler's. Oh, no, we can't have that. Ha!
I think the Schindler's don't want Michael to know what is in the ongoing report until it is finished.
If I were writing it up and I knew the Judge said, well turn over what you have so far to Gibbs and Felo's, I would stop writing at a certain point, fax it over; THEN I would begin to really write up the meat. So the Schindlers not wanting it made public I think is a good strategy. Eventually when it most benefits the Schindlers can it be made public.
Let's remember, there are dozens and dozens of people working in quiet support positions and handling reams of paperwork and hundreds of phone calls and emails in the courts, state agencies, county and municipal agencies, hospitals, hospices, doctor's practices, Jodi's insurance agency ... you just never know where God will plant the seed of conscience nor who will be provoked and sickened enough to rise up and turn away from the sewer that is this situation and speak out.
Pray for righteous and decent people .. that hearts may be touched irrevocably by the cruelty and inhumanity they've witnessed and that they be given courage so that the world finally sees the truth. PRayers for Terri!
I think a few of those "Rightous People" have a pipline into www.TheEmpireJournal
Great cyn. You lead the way, we will follow. I was hoping that this could be done, but wow, it is hard to know how to start it when organization is not my thing.!!*G*
I surely hope so .. and God bless 'em!
One can only hope. Keep the faith.
I'll be praying on and off all night tonight and tomorrow night. Thanks for doing this.
Sure I will put you in that slot. I will update the chart tonight after I see the response.
I don't know if anyone anwered your questions, but here is a short summary.
She may or may not have bulimia. She supposedly weighed about 115 pounds and was 5 ft 3 in. Sounds pretty normal to me. Evidently, no doctor had diagnosed her as having an eating disorder.
She didn't tell her parents, but she did tell her brother and her friends that she wanted to divorce her husband.
On the night she collapsed, she had been out with a girlfriend. The girlfriend thought she should not go home. Terri thought it would be ok and she would pretend to be asleep. Late that night after the husband came home, he called Terri's Dad and told him she had collapsed. I believe he told him that he thought she wasn't breathing. The Dad had to tell him to call 911. Michael had not called the paramedics. Her brother Bobby lived in the same apartment complex and rushed over. He said he found Michael sitting on the couch and Terri collapsed on the floor. Michael evidently did not try to perform CPR, although he knew how to.
A bone scan was conducted about a year after she was in her condition. Evidently, she had a lot of pain. It turned out she had multiple broken bones all over her body that her parents didn't know anything about. They did not even find out about the bone scan until years later. Michael would not let them see the medical records.
At least one of the nurses that gave sworn affidavits died. Do you remember which one? and were there any others?
What about a "sit-in" on the hospice sidewalk? It would certainly get the attention of the media!
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