Replies

Schindler Family Calls for Judge's 'Immediate Impeachment'
Melanie Hunter
Deputy Managing Editor

(CNSNews.com) - A spokesman for the family of Terri Schindler Schiavo said Thursday the Florida judge residing over her case "ignores the state's laws and orders the premeditated killing of a disabled Florida woman by her husband."

Pamela Hennessy, media director for the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, in a press release Thursday called on disability and eldercare advocates to press for Circuit Judge George Greer's "immediate impeachment."

"If there is a single person following this who doesn't believe Judge Greer has legislated from the bench, trampled Florida's laws and deprived Terri Schiavo of her retained rights, they are simply not paying attention," Hennessy said in a statement.

According to the foundation's press release, on Tuesday and Wednesday Greer issued three orders that the foundation said all but assures Schiavo's death. First, Greer ordered that the family may not introduce oral nutrition and hydration following the removal of Terri's gastric feeding tube.

The foundation pointed out that Florida Statute 744.3215 (Rights of Persons Determined Incapacitated) requires that incapacitated people cannot be deprived of food and water.

"Ordering that Terri Schiavo may not receive nutrition or hydration naturally is against the law, in the opinion of the Foundation," it said in a statement.

Second, according to the foundation, Greer ruled that no further neurological tests may be conducted on Terri, using functional MRI to determine if she is in a "persistent vegetative state," as Greer found in 2002, or if Terri is "minimally conscious."

The foundation pointed out that Florida Statute 765.404, which defines persistent vegetative state, requires that the condition be determined and diagnosed as permanent prior to the withdrawal of life-prolonging means. Also, Florida Statute 765.309 prevents mercy killing and assisted suicide.

The foundation unless the "true neurological condition of Terri Schiavo" is determined prior to the removal of the feeding tube, Greer's order amounts to "a directive for her guardian to commit either a mercy killing or assisted suicide."

And third, "Greer denied an order from a judgment based on his error in dismissing pertinent testimony in 2000 that would assist the court in determining Terri Schiavo's true end of life wishes," the foundation added.

It pointed to Florida Statute 765.404, which says clear and convincing evidence of the ward's intent for medical treatment must be established.

"The only evidence in support of removing Terri's feeding tube was the self-serving hearsay testimony of her guardian (which is not admissible under FS 90.602) and hearsay from two members of his immediate family," the foundation said.

"Greer systematically ruled that testimony from Terri's friends and family was unreliable or not credible. His failure to consider all evidence of Terri Schiavo's attitude towards life-prolonging measures, in the Foundation's opinion, is a clear violation of Florida Statutes," it concluded.
See Earlier Story:
'Clear and Convincing Evidence' of Schiavo's Wishes Challenged (March 3, 2005)

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.

http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1317541.html