New Motions Filed in Terri’s Fight
With less than two weeks remaining before the court order removing Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube is set to take effect, Terri’s parents began pushing for a flurry of new court motions they hope might keep their daughter alive
With less than two weeks remaining before the court order removing Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube is set to take effect, Terri’s parents began pushing for a flurry of new court motions they hope might keep their daughter alive, Monday, March 07, 2005.
The lawyers for Robert and Mary Schindler faced the Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer on Monday, with several legal motions regarding the March 18th death sentence placed on the 41-year old severaly disabled woman’s life.
The main motion pushed forward by the Schindlers’ attorney David Gibbs was a request to permit Terri to be fed by mouth should her feeding tube be removed. Greer did not immediately rule on the motion.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Meanwhile, Greer turned down most of the 10 motions filed by the Schindlers, including the requests to let the media see her in her nursing home bed, to allow Terri to die at the Schindler family home rather than at the hospice, and to have family pictures taken before Terri dies.
In the past five years since Terri’s case was presented to the Pinellas Court, judge Greer has consistently sided with her husband Michael. Mr. Schiavo, who now lives with his girlfriend with whom he has fathered two children, claims his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially.
In Monday’s case, Greer again sided with Michael, and refused to intervene in his plans to have his wife cremated and her ashes interned in Pennsylvania, where she was born. Greer also agreed with the husband to not let Terri’s family take their own pictures of Terri before she dies. Under Greer’s ruling, the Schindlers must hire a photographer to take the pictures, which will be given to Michael, who will turn them over to his in-laws only after Terri’s death.
The Schindlers did not attend Monday's hearing because it was too upsetting to hear the debate over the details of their daughter's death, according to Gibbs.
Gibbs however will return to court on Tuesday to argue that Terri Schaivo needs to undergo more medical tests to determine if she is indeed in a “persistent vegetative state”, as Greer ruled in 2000. Gibbs will also be filing a motion asking Greer to reconsider his 2000 decision to pull Terri’s tube, in light of new facts that disprove assumptions made during the critical ruling.
Also on Tuesday, state lawmakers may hear arguments for a bill that may block Greer’s motion to remove Terri’s feeding tube on March 18. However, House speaker Allan Bense said the Florida congress will not rush anything through.
"Perhaps all their remedies have been exhausted. Perhaps it's time to move on," Bense said, according to the Miami Herald. "I understand there is a date looming, but let's make sure we have the best legal minds look at this issue.”
At the national level, U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez will introduce a legislation in Washington that would give federal courts jurisdiction in cases such as Terri’s.
Entitled, “the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act,” the legislation would afford federal appeal rights to disabled persons facing removal from life support.
"Terri has never been afforded independent counsel in a matter that will result in her life or death," Weldon said on the House floor March 3. "Terri has had no voice of her own in these legal proceedings.... The case of Terri Schiavo deserves a second look by an objective court."
Federal judges have twice turned down the Schindlers’ efforts to move the case out of the state courts, citing the lack of jurisdiction. Should Weldon’s bill pass gain enough support, it will allow the federal courts to get involved and take the case out of Judge Greer’s hands.
In light of such developments, Gibbs said he his hopeful for Terri’s life.
Said Gibbs: "We still believe that with what is coming forward, she may be alive for many, many years to come."
