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Schiavo wants to block witnesses
By Mitch Stacy
The Associated Press
Posted November 27 2003
TAMPA · A husband battling for the fate of his severely brain-damaged wife in court against Gov. Jeb Bush is trying to block Bush's attorneys from questioning some potential witnesses.
George Felos, an attorney for Michael Schiavo, asked a judge Tuesday to stop Bush's attorneys from taking depositions from seven people, including Schiavo and the woman he lives with now.
Felos contends their testimony would be irrelevant to the issue at hand -- the constitutionality of a state law that let Bush order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube after a court ordered it out last month.
He accused the governor of trying to improperly intervene in the fight over Terri Schiavo's guardianship. Her parents have mounted a court challenge to try to show their son-in-law as unfit to be legal guardian.
"His notion of intent to depose these witnesses is nothing more than an attempt by the governor to reopen guardianship proceedings, something he is not permitted to do in this case," the motion said.
Bush's attorney, Kenneth L. Connor, in a court filing Monday, said that in addition to Schiavo and the woman with whom he lives, Jodi Centonze, depositions will be sought from Schiavo's brother and sister-in-law, Scott and Joan Schiavo, and three doctors who have examined Terri Schiavo.
All but Centonze have testified in previous court proceedings.
Scott and Joan Schiavo testified about what they said were Terri Schiavo's statements that she would never want to be kept alive artificially.
Bush spokeswoman Alia Faraj said the governor's attorneys need to question the witnesses to determine if they have relevant testimony.
"This is an opportunity for the governor and the governor's legal representation to make those decisions themselves," she said.
Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird of Clearwater, presiding over the constitutional case, had not yet seen the motion, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Michael Schiavo is suing the governor over last month's hastily passed law that let Bush intervene in the six-year-long legal battle over the fate of Terri Schiavo, who has been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990.
Michael Schiavo has said his wife never wanted to be kept alive artificially.
Doctors had removed the feeding tube keeping her alive when the Legislature gave the governor the power to intervene and order the tube reinserted.
The husband contends that was a violation of his wife's right to privacy and the separation-of-power provision of the Florida Constitution.
Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, dispute that she is in a persistent vegetative state. They say she responds to them and could improve with therapy, and they dispute that she ever said anything about end-of-life wishes.
Baird plans to meet with attorneys Tuesday to talk about a timeline for the case.