- TAMPA, Fl (AP) - Gov. Jeb
Bush fired a volley of legal shots Wednesday at the husband of a brain
injured woman who is at the center of a right to die case, arguing there
needs to be a jury trial on whether Terri Schiavo wanted to be kept alive
artificially.
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- The governor also sought to remove Florida Circuit Court
Judge W. Douglas Baird of Clearwater from hearing the constitutionality
of the new law, enacted to reinsert a feeding tube keeping Terri Schiavo
alive after her husband had it removed last month.
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- The governor is also arguing Terri Schiavo's rights under
the Florida Constitution are being better protected under the new law,
not violated.
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- Terri Schiavo went for six days without food and water
after her husband Michael Schiavo removed the tube, which has kept her
alive for more than a decade. Florida lawmakers and Bush intervened, enacting
a hastily drawn law that allowed the governor to order the feeding tube
be reinserted.
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- Wednesday's four legal filings come in response to a
lawsuit Michael Schiavo filed challenging the constitutionality of the
governor's action and seeking a temporary restraining order against the
governor.
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- George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, said he was
still reading through the thick set of legal papers, but said the governor
was setting the case up for more delays in the flurry of filings.
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- "The fact is this case is about whether this law
is constitutional or not," Felos said. "I don't think the trial
court is going to allow them to reopen six years of litigation."
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- Michael Schiavo argues his wife's right to privacy in
making medical decisions for herself had been violated as had the separation
of powers between lawmakers, the executive branch and the judiciary.
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- He contends his wife had said she did not want to be
kept alive artificially before she suffered severe brain damage after collapsing
in 1990.
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- Doctors have ruled she has been in a persistent vegetative
state since then, but her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, believe she
is aware of her surroundings and could be rehabilitated.
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- Ken Connor, the Tampa attorney representing the governor
in the case, said that before a court can decide whether Terri Schiavo's
private health care wishes were violated, it first has to be established
by a jury what her wishes were.
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- Connor said the governor is arguing his actions were
not unconstitutional because Terri Schiavo's case is markedly different
from the right-to-die case which established Florida case law.
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- The precedent-setting case of Estelle Browning involved
a woman who had two written wills establishing she did not want to be kept
alive artificially. There were no family members disputing that was her
choice.
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- Terri Schiavo had no advanced directives and her parents
dispute their daughter would have had such end-of-life wishes. The judge's
decision to grant Michael Schiavo permission to withdraw the feeding tube
was based on testimony from Michael Schiavo, his brother and a sister-in-law.
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- Connor said it is improper to use "borrowed"
evidence from a separate court case in this new legal action against the
governor.
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- "You can't just say it, you are going to have to
prove it," Connor said, adding to not hold a trial would then violate
Bush's due process rights.
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- "We believe the governor is entitled to the same
due process rights as any other citizen," Connor said. "He's
not a second class citizen because he is the governor."
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- Connor said the new law is actually an additional layer
of protection for disabled people by providing an independent guardian
to investigate when there is nothing in writing and when family members
disagree on treatment.
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- The new law also doesn't encroach on the separation of
powers because Florida courts have recognized that lawmakers may act to
affect prior court decisions, Connor said the filings argue.
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- In the filing seeking to remove Baird from the case,
Connor cited statements the judge recently made saying that Terri Schiavo's
rights are being violated.
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- "The court seems to have just bought the Felos argument
without even having heard from the governor," Connor said.
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- But Felos said the judge's statements were proper under
state law which presumes a citizen's rights are being violated when such
a challenge is made and puts the burden of proof on government to show
that is not true or explain why such a violation is warranted.
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- "This just betrays the mentality of the opposition
in this case," Felos said. "If somebody doesn't agree them, they
must be biased."
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- Felos said he further disputes that governor's argument
that the new law better protects citizens and doesn't violate the separation
of powers.
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- "Who is it that the Legislature is trying to protect
Terri Schiavo from?" Felos said. "The courts? It's the court
that has ordered her artificial life support removed.
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- "In essence the governor is saying we have an added
layer of protection from the court system... The citizens don't need to
be protected from the courts."
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- Besides his legal fight with the governor, Michael Schiavo
is also facing legal challenges from in in-laws on whether he should be
his wife's guardian at all.
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- Terri's Links
- http://heavenlyhands.net/terrislinks.html
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