In contrast, the judge found that both the husband and the parents had a monetary interest in the outcome of the case. That is why, in my opinion, he gave so much weight to the testimony of Scott and Joan.
Except that the parents had a monetary interest so they could use the money to care for their daughter and the HINO had a monetary interest to use the money to OFF Terri and keep the remainder for his new life.
I believe the nurses and for their testimony to be considered not credible is simply not credible.
BW: Except that the parents had a monetary interest so they could use the money to care for their daughter and the HINO had a monetary interest to use the money to OFF Terri and keep the remainder for his new life.
As in most of real life, it isn't quite that easy. The parents were doing a little money grubbing of their own. This was not Terri's trust fund (the $700,000 from the settlement), that was hers and always hers no matter as long as she is alive.
The dispute was over whether they got $150K of the $300K which Michael got for loss of consortium. They claimed that he had promised it to them. That's what caused them to stop speaking.
They are not pure as the driven snow.
BUT the real potential conflict of interest arose by their desire to get Michael out of the picture so they could inherit the trust fund from Terri as her heirs at law. The court said,
The record before this court discloses that should Mr. and Mrs. Schindler prevail, their stated hope is that Mr. Schiavo would divorce their daughter, get on with his life, they would be appointed guardians of Terri Schiavo and become her heirs at law. They have even encouraged him to 'get on with his life.' Therefore neither side is exempt from finger pointing as to possible conflicts of interest in this case.
Amen. It should be apparent that the parents had the same interest the husband did, no more, no less.