Two Courts Deny Another Last-Minute Motion to Save Terri Schiavo
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 17, 2003
Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) — Two courts on Friday denied another last-minute effort by Terri Schiavo’s parents to save her. Bob and Mary Schindler filed a motion that would have required reinserting Terri’s feeding tube and mandated that Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) intervene on Terri’s behalf.
Leon County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Sjostrom rejected the writ of mandamus almost immediately after it was filed in Tallahassee saying it should have been filed in Pinellas County where Terri is living.
The Schindlers appealed to the 1st District Court of Appeal, which, without comment, fefused to hear the case.
A spokesman for the family said the Schindlers’ attorneys filed the motion in order to help Governor Bush obtain legal standing in the case.
Bush has said that, while he supports Terri and her parents, he has no legal grounds on which to overturn in the court decisions that ultimately allowed Michael Schiavo to remove the gastric tube that was providing Terri with food and water.
Terri’s feeding tube was removed on Wednesday afternoon and experts say she could die of dehydration as soon as mid-day Saturday.
Pat Anderson, the Schindlers longtime attorney, said she wasn’t surprised the judge rejected the write so quickly.
"There has been an awful lot of judicial attention to this case," Anderson told the Associated Press. "Judges don’t like to second-guess each other."
Some 19 judges and 6 courts have been involved in the decade-long lawsuit.
The Schindlers are still hoping Bush will launch an investigation into Michael Schiavo.
One year after Terri’s collapse, a bone scan revealed that she had compression fractures and apparent traumatic injuries.
Michael wants Terri’s body cremated following her death. Attorneys with the Thomas More Legal Center, a pro-life law firm, are worried that doing so would destroy any evidence investigators could use to ascertain whether Terri was a victim of domestic abuse.
The evidence, along with the lack of medical care given to Terri during two recent hospitalizations, gives Bush "probable cause" to investigate, the attorneys say.
The attorneys say Michael has conflicts of interest because he is living with another woman while still legally married to Terri. He and his girlfriend have one child already and are expecting another. They also say Michael has violated a promise to a jury that $700,000 of a $1.5 million medical malpractice judgment awarded to him would be used to pay for rehabilitative and medical care for Terri.
After Michael received the award, he placed a "do not recesitate" order on Terri.
Michael adamantly denies having abused or mistreated his wife.
Related web sites:
Bob and Mary Schindler – https://www.terrisfight.org
