Tampa, FL — A federal judge last week heard an emergency lawsuit filed by the family of Terri Schiavo in a desperate attempt to stop her husband from ending her life.
U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara wasn't persuaded by the evidence presented by Bob and Mary Schindler's attorneys. However, he scheduled another hearing for later in the month to give the family a second chance to make their case.
The complaint was filed on Saturday, and New Jersey lawyer Christopher Ferrara with the American Catholic Lawyers Association had little time to prepare.
Ferrara told the judge that Michael Schiavo, who he called a “rogue guardian,” has violated his wife's rights under federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, by withholding medical treatment and refusing to allow her to fed by mouth.
“(The Schindlers) are about to lose their daughter because no one wants to put a teaspoon of Jello to her mouth,” Ferrara said at the hearing. “It's insane.”
However, Judge Lazzara called the family's complaint “quintessential shotgun pleading” and an attempt to delay an eventual decision by Circuit Court Judge George Greer, who has Terri's fate in his hands.
Despite the comments, Lazzara acknowledge the family had little time to prepare the lawsuit and will allow a second hearing.
Michael Schiavo's attorney George Felos, a euthanasia advocate, says the judge is only hearing the same lawsuit the family has failed to win in other courts.
“I think what the judge realized that after six years of litigation, what we're seeing here are delaying tactics,” Felos said after the hearing.
Greer has scheduled a September 11 hearing to decide whether the feeding tube will be removed and hear an argument from the family that Michael violated a 1996 court order that required him to keep the family informed about Terri's medical condition. The family says Michael and his attorney George Felos kept them in the dark about Terri's status during two hospitalizations.
In 1990, Terri Schiavo was 26 years old when she collapsed at home from what doctors believe was a potassium imbalance.
Two years later, a jury awarded Michael Schiavo $1.3 million in a malpractice lawsuit he brought against her doctors. The money was placed in a trust fund to pay for medical treatment and rehabilitation, but she has received no therapy in over 10 years and only minimal nursing care.
Michael is now living with another woman, with whom he has had a child. Terri's family claims he wants Terri to die so he can receive the rest of the trust fund money.
In addition, doctors other than those selected by Michael's attorney, reviewed Terri's medical records.
“It was found that a heart attack did not cause Terri's collapse as everyone was led to believe. Rather, according to one physician, Terri may have been a strangulation victim,” Pamela Hennessy, a representative of the family, told LifeNews.com.
If true, the allegations demand an investigation, Hennessy said.
Related web sites:
Terri Schiavo's family – terrisfight.org
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and LifeNews.com. For more information or to subscribe go to LifeNews.com or email news@LifeNews.com.)
