MaxedOutMama
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Desperate Measures For Terri
As a last resort, an emergency appeal for a stay pending the 2nd District of Appeal's hearing the appeal of Judge Greer's order to withdraw food and water from Terri Shiavo tomorrow has been filed with the Supreme Court of the United States. The appeal cites numerous violations of state law which constitute denial of due process and equal protection under the United States constitution. You may read this appeal here. It documents the various ways in which Florida state law has been repetitively ignored in order to create the conditions necessary for Terri Schiavo's execution.
From the appeal:
There are currently 17 medical affidavits up at terrisfight.org by medical experts who say that Terri Schiavo is not in a persistent vegetative state or that additional testing is need. Yet none of these judgements will be allowed to affect Judge Greer's actions, because he has already ruled that any medical testimony that does not agree with his earlier ruling that Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state is ipso facto flawed:
Yet the media coverage always reports that there is no medical controversy here, and that it is only Terri's family who erroneously hold to some irrational hope. Nothing could be further than the truth. Will the truth win?
From the appeal:
No irreparable harm will accrue to Respondent, Michael Schiavo, if a stay is issued. Although Mr. Schiavo will claim that any delay inures to the detriment of Terri Schiavo because it will delay the exercise of her alleged decision to end her life by starvation and dehydration, that position begs the questions raised here: Was the trial court’s decision structurally defective? If it was, and Petitioners respectfully submit that it was, the trial court’s factual “findings” are a nullity.What is most disturbing to me in the Terri Schiavo case is reading Judge Greer's numerous orders. In effect, what is occurring in this case is that a judge is substituting his judgement for that of medical experts.
There are currently 17 medical affidavits up at terrisfight.org by medical experts who say that Terri Schiavo is not in a persistent vegetative state or that additional testing is need. Yet none of these judgements will be allowed to affect Judge Greer's actions, because he has already ruled that any medical testimony that does not agree with his earlier ruling that Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state is ipso facto flawed:
Sept 17 2003 3:25PM Sixth Judicial CircuitHigher courts are not willing to review the medical evidence because it is the lower court's job to make factual findings. So there you have it. Judge Greer has no problem reviewing affidavits from medical professionals who testify that Terri Schiavo is cognitively alive and therefore not in a persistent vegetative state. He also feels no need to modify his prior judgement that she is cognitively dead. One man, ignoring numerous medical opinions, has the right to rule that Terri Schiavo is dead.
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA
PROBATE DIVISION
File No. 90-2908GD-003
ORDER
The affidavits of the 3 speech professionals clearly demonstrate that they disagree with the previous rulings of this court as amplified by the four opinions of the Second District Court of Appeal. All viewed the videos which were part of the October 2002 evidentiary hearing and one reviewed early medical records too. Dr. Gimon says that she is "not in a persistent vegetative state", and is "clearly able to respond cognitively to environmental stimuli". Ms. Mele says Terri is "clearly vocalizing". Ms. Stinson says she is "attempting to communicate with her father" and "is able to learn and has sufficient cognitive and motor ability to respond". They all reference an audiotape prepared by Mr. Schindler, Sr. and how the tape shows interaction between Terri and her parents. (Interestingly enough, the affidavit of Mr. Schindler, Sr. is silent as to this tape.) It is very clear therefrom that they do not believe that Terri is in a persistent vegetative state. Therefore, any conclusion that they have reached would be totally flawed.
Yet the media coverage always reports that there is no medical controversy here, and that it is only Terri's family who erroneously hold to some irrational hope. Nothing could be further than the truth. Will the truth win?
Comments:
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This is not an "excerpt from the judge's ruling"--it's a motion from one party.
Have you read the decision of the court in this case? Pretty hard to disagree with it. The judge all but called the two doctors who testified that Terri Schiavo could recover quacks and liars--and he gave them every opportunity to present credible evidence, which they couldn't.
One of them runs a "cash-upfront-only" clinic for whiplash patients, and had no documentation of any kind to support his testimony.
I read the decision and thought the judge was more than fair. It's a sad case but it really seems like a lot of honest effort went into the decision.
Check it out. This blog has two great posts on it:
http://www.201k.com
Have you read the decision of the court in this case? Pretty hard to disagree with it. The judge all but called the two doctors who testified that Terri Schiavo could recover quacks and liars--and he gave them every opportunity to present credible evidence, which they couldn't.
One of them runs a "cash-upfront-only" clinic for whiplash patients, and had no documentation of any kind to support his testimony.
I read the decision and thought the judge was more than fair. It's a sad case but it really seems like a lot of honest effort went into the decision.
Check it out. This blog has two great posts on it:
http://www.201k.com
# posted by 
: 6:28 PM
: 6:28 PM
"In effect, what is occurring in this case is that a judge is substituting his judgement for that of medical experts."
Not at all. He found that the three doctors who testified that Terri Schiavo was in either a "persistent" or "permanent" vegetative state were credible, and the two who didn't (hired by her parents) weren't even a remotely credible. Like the previous poster said, one of them is a complete fraud, and neither offered ANY credible evidence. The judge stopped just short of calling them liars because what they claimed was completely contradicted by video tape.
You shouldn't make such outrageous statements if you don't know what you're talking about. You owe the judge--and a lot of people, really--an apology. How dare you make such allegations when you don't even know a "decison" from a "motion". You haven't even read the decision!
By the way, the "17 experts' thing is a joke. Only two of those "experts" are qualified in the field, and they didn't say ANYTHING to suggest she'd ever recover. The one who said she would is a high school science teacher who lied about his credentials.
Here's the decision. If you read this and still believe all this nonsense, then god help you.
http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/trialctorder11-02.txt
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Not at all. He found that the three doctors who testified that Terri Schiavo was in either a "persistent" or "permanent" vegetative state were credible, and the two who didn't (hired by her parents) weren't even a remotely credible. Like the previous poster said, one of them is a complete fraud, and neither offered ANY credible evidence. The judge stopped just short of calling them liars because what they claimed was completely contradicted by video tape.
You shouldn't make such outrageous statements if you don't know what you're talking about. You owe the judge--and a lot of people, really--an apology. How dare you make such allegations when you don't even know a "decison" from a "motion". You haven't even read the decision!
By the way, the "17 experts' thing is a joke. Only two of those "experts" are qualified in the field, and they didn't say ANYTHING to suggest she'd ever recover. The one who said she would is a high school science teacher who lied about his credentials.
Here's the decision. If you read this and still believe all this nonsense, then god help you.
http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/trialctorder11-02.txt
# posted by : 6:39 PM
: 6:39 PM << Home
