ArchivedBush, parents of Terri Schiavo surprised at guardians...http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7552180.htm
Bush, parents of Terri Schiavo surprised at guardian's discharge
ADRIAN SAINZ
Associated Press
Both Gov. Jeb Bush and the parents of a severely brain-damaged woman at the center of a right-to-die case said Monday they were surprised that a judge discharged an independent guardian for the woman from the case.
Lawyers for the governor were working Monday on a request asking Chief Circuit Judge David A. Demers in St. Petersburg to reinstate Jay Wolfson as Terri Schiavo's guardian ad litem, Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre said.
Meanwhile, Bush's attorneys filed a notice of automatic stay in another court late Monday afternoon, a move that may delay a scheduled Tuesday hearing on the constitutionality of a law used by Bush to order the woman be kept alive pending further court action.
The woman's husband, Michael Schiavo, wants Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird of Clearwater to issue a final order Tuesday striking down the law.
It was unknown Monday night if an additional hearing would be scheduled on the automatic stay filing. Baird has lifted a past automatic stay filing by Bush's attorneys, saying further delays in resolving the case violate Terri Schiavo's constitutional rights.
Florida courts had repeatedly said Michael Schiavo has the right to remove his wife's feeding tube because he's her medical and legal guardian. She had gone without water and nutrition for six days in October before the Legislature and Bush stepped in to have the tube reinserted.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, also has said the narrowly constructed and hastily passed law violated Terri Schiavo's right to privacy and violates the separation-of-power provisions of the Florida Constitution.
Bush learned Friday that Demers had discharged Wolfson in an order dated Wednesday, DiPietre said. Bush found out about the dismissal a day after he sent a letter to Wolfson with several questions regarding Schiavo, who is being kept alive by a feeding tube.
"The governor is disappointed that the judge discharged the guardian ad litem," DiPietre said. "From the very beginning, the governor stressed the need for an advocate and third party" to serve Schiavo's interests, he said.
Wolfson is a lawyer and University of South Florida professor appointed by the court to investigate the case. He completed his report earlier this month, finding there is virtually no medical evidence that Terri will ever recover from a persistent vegetative state she entered more than 13 years ago. However, Wolfson recommended tests to determine if she could be taught to swallow and eat on her own.
"We concur with Judge Demers that the guardian at litem completed the task that was assigned to him," Felos said.
Terri Schiavo was 26 in 1990 when her heart stopped from doctors believe was a potassium imbalance, likely from her bulimia. Her heart was restarted, but her oxygen-deprived brain was left permanently damaged.
Schiavo, now 40, has been at the center of a long legal battle between her husband, Michael Schiavo, and her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. Her husband wants to remove her feeding tube so she can die, saying she wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially.
The Schindlers dispute doctors' assertions that their daughter is in a persistent vegetative state and believe her condition could improve with therapy.
Pat Anderson, the Schindlers' lawyers, said Monday that she was surprised by the guardian's removal. She said the family still wants a permanent guardian to represent Terri Schiavo and insist Michael Schiavo's interests are conflicted because he is engaged to another woman and has children with her.
In Bush's letter to Wolfson, dated Thursday, he asked several questions about Schiavo's "nutrition and hydration," including what experiences Schiavo would have in the process of dying by starvation and what statements she ever made regarding her wishes should she ever be in a persistent vegetative state.
I wish they (the reporters) would stop pushing this idea that Terri was bullimic, and that she suffered from a potassium imbalance due to bullemia. It's like these reporters were on Mars when it was made public that there was a chance that Terri had been physically abused by Michael, and that she had the head injuries to prove it!!
| View dfilename Return Home |