Posted on 03/23/2005 8:34:30 PM PST by cabalofdom
Clearwater, Florida - Judge George Greer admits there was an error in fact in the 2000 trial that established Terri Schiavo;s "right to die."When a family friend claimed a 19-year-old Terri was upset that right to die icon Karen Ann Quinlan's parents removed her from life support, the Judge discounted the testimony, reportedly because the Judge said Quinlan died in 1976.
Quinlan was taken off life support in 1976, but died in 1985. A technical error, yes. But Wednesday afternoon, Judge Greer ruled it was not enough to affect the outcome of the 2000 lawsuit that held Terri would not want to be kept alive with severe brain damage.
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabays10.com ...
This whole case stinks to high heaven, and it's a damned travesty of justice.
Her friend's testimony thus has credibility and was rejected for demonstrably false reasons by the trial court, and affirmed by the appellate courts.
She dies because of a judicial f*ckup, and now they won't fix it.
I thought this might be of interest to you.
By the way, if Terri dies, any thoughts of a future run at the Presidency by Jeb Bush are kaput. He may have already burned himself for good anyways. All I can think right now is, "Whoa... What if Jeb Bush was President and there was a need for immediate, decisive action in the face of a crisis?"
It seems that Jeb Bush is not the kind of guy I would want to depend on.
It sure is.
That has always been the underlying problem with judiciaries. They themselves BECOME the law. At least in their minds they do. When they get to that stage it is beyond "interpresting the Constitution." It is a matter of assuming the physical embodiment of Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers, nay, even God. They BECOME the Constitution. They BECOME God. And that is a grave danger that lurks over every America.
Oh, just a tiny little mistake that is going to cost a life, what does he care?
Yep .. sick ain't it
"Why isn't this big news? This alone should have been enough justification to review Terri's case."
Good question, but the answer is simple. Our judges are cowards.
Exactly how i feel.
THE CRANFORD DIAGNOSIS
Doctors for Michael Schiavo have said that an MRI and PET are not necessary for Terri because PVS is primarily a “clinical” diagnosis, that is, one arrived at on the basis of examination of the patient, rather than by relying on tests. And the neurologists I have spoken to agree on the clinical nature of the diagnosis, while insisting that advanced tests nonetheless are a necessary part of it. But the star medical witness for Michael Schiavo, Dr. Ronald Cranford of the University of Minnesota, has repeatedly dismissed calls for MRI testing, and his opinion has prevailed.
Dr. Cranford was the principal medical witness brought in by Schiavo and Felos to support their position that Terri was PVS. Judge Greer was obviously impressed by Cranford’s résumé: Cranford travels throughout the country testifying in cases involving PVS and brain impairment. He is widely recognized by courts as an expert in these issues, and in some circles is considered “the” expert on PVS. His clinical judgment has carried the day in many cases, so it is relevant to examine the manner in which he arrived at his judgment in Terri’s case. But before that, one needs to know a little about Cranford’s background and perspective: Dr. Ronald Cranford is one of the most outspoken advocates of the “right to die” movement and of physician-assisted suicide in the U.S. today.
In published articles, including a 1997 op-ed in the Minneapolis–St. Paul Star Tribune, he has advocated the starvation of Alzheimer’s patients. He has described PVS patients as indistinguishable from other forms of animal life. He has said that PVS patients and others with brain impairment lack personhood and should have no constitutional rights. Perusing the case literature and articles surrounding the “right to die” and PVS, one will see Dr. Cranford’s name surface again and again. In almost every case, he is the one claiming PVS, and advocating the cessation of nutrition and hydration.
In the cases of Paul Brophy, Nancy Jobes, Nancy Cruzan, and Christine Busalucci, Cranford was the doctor behind the efforts to end their lives. Each of these people was brain-damaged but not dying; nonetheless, he advocated death for all, by dehydration and starvation. Nancy Cruzan did not even require a feeding tube: She could be spoon-fed. But Cranford advocated denying even that, saying that even spoon-feeding constituted “medical treatment” that could be licitly withdrawn.
In cases where other doctors don’t see it, Dr. Cranford seems to have a knack for finding PVS. Cranford also diagnosed Robert Wendland as PVS. He did so in spite of the fact that Wendland could pick up specifically colored pegs or blocks and hand them to a therapy assistant on request. He did so in spite of the fact that Wendland could operate and maneuver an ordinary wheelchair with his left hand and foot, and an electric wheelchair with a joystick, of the kind that many disabled persons (most famously Dr. Stephen Hawking) use. Dr. Cranford dismissed these abilities as meaningless. Fortunately for Wendland, the California supreme court was not persuaded by Cranford’s assessment.
Expert witnesses in court are supposed to be unbiased: disinterested in the outcome of the case. Part of the procedure in qualifying expert witnesses is establishing that they are objective and unbiased. But given Dr. Cranford’s history of advocacy in the “right to die” and euthanasia movements, and given his track record of almost always coming down on the side of PVS and removal of nutrition and hydration, one might question his objectivity. Indeed, the Schindlers’ attorneys attempted to do so in the 2002 evidentiary hearing at which Cranford testified, but went unheard. Organizations such as the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide submitted amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in the appellate proceedings in Terri’s case, demonstrating Cranford’s bias in detail. But these arguments also seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Some neurologists who also consult in legal cases were not surprised at the handling of Dr. Cranford’s expert testimony. In theory, they said, the expert witness is supposed to be objective, but, as Dr. Bell explained, “the way it really works is that an attorney carefully selects an expert that will give him the outcome he desires.” He related that he has been asked by attorneys to serve as an expert. “I have looked over medical records,” he said, “and told attorneys what I thought.” But on occasion, he said, his opinion was “obviously not what they wanted to hear” and “they moved on to another expert.” Bell acknowledged that Cranford is “a highly accomplished and experienced speaker,” but said that in him the court “likely found a highly prejudiced expert.”
snip
Dr. Cranford examined Terri on one occasion, for approximately 45 minutes. Another doctor for Michael Schiavo, Dr. Peter Bambikidis of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, examined Terri for about half an hour. When Dr. Bell learned of the cursory nature of these exams, he said: “You can’t do this. To make a diagnosis of PVS based on one examination is fallacious.” In Cranford’s examination, described by one witness as “brutal,” he discounted evidence under his own eyes of Terri’s responsiveness. At one point, Dr. Cranford struck Terri very hard on the forehead between her eyes. Terri recoiled and moaned, seemingly in pain. In his court testimony, Cranford dismissed the reaction and moan as a “reflex.”
http://tinyurl.com/57pgz
No doubt! Elian Gonzales;s mother died trying to get her son to a free country, and the Wookie (Janet Reno) sent JBT's into Florida with machine guns and kevlar to send 6 year old Elian back through the gates of hell to Castro's Cuba, and that get's a pass.
If John Ashcroft sent the excact same JBT's into Florida to give Terri Schindler Schaivo a chance to breathe another breath and see another sunrise, the Clintern/Wookie supporters would have a stroke - and they are the ones that were silent when Elian Gonzalez was sent back to the 'socialist paradise' of Cuba.
More than anything, we need to get rational thought, and rational people back in our leadership, in all three branches of governmment.
Kind of looks like he made up his mind regardless of the evidence
Greer, as custodian of Terri's insurance settlement money and guardian, authorized Michael to take money out of Terri's CARE and REHAB money to hire GREER to file the case, which was filed in GREER's COURT. He made up his mind BEFORE hearing any of the evidence.
Gonzales needs to send the goons in to prevent the destruction of Terri's body (Greer has ordered immediate cremation upon her death), as it is evidence.
Then they had a doctor's diagnosis of PVS, (which the doctor refused to sign), and Then they filed Terri's case.
Nah, no impropriety here.....!
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