How the Legal Battle for Terri Shindler Schiavo's life
was lost at the onset.
In case you were wondering, with so many facts in dispute about the Terri Schiavo case,
the answer is relatively clear: The Schindlers, well-intentioned as they have been, were
outgunned in the early legal fight that sealed their daughter's fate.
The early legal maneuvering created "facts" that are now beyond dispute in
higher courts. One is the unbelievable claim by Michael Schiavo that Terri wanted to be
starved and dehydrated to death.
One Florida attorney told the story on Steve Sailer's Web blog (www.isteve.com).
Here's what the lawyer wrote:
"I have been following the case for years. Something that interests me about the
Terri Schiavo case, and that doesn't seem to have gotten much media attention: The whole
case rests on the fact that the Schindlers (Terri's parents) were totally outlawyered by
the husband (Michael Schiavo) at the trial court level.
"This happened because, in addition to getting a $750K judgment for Terri's medical
care, Michael Schiavo individually got a $300K award of damages for loss of
consortium, which gave him the money to hire a top-notch lawyer to represent him
on the right-to-die claim. He hired George Felos, who specializes in this area and
litigated one of the landmark right-to-die cases in Florida in the early '90s.
"By contrast, the Schindlers had trouble even finding a lawyer who would take
their case since there was no money in it. Finally they found an inexperienced
lawyer who agreed to take it partly out of sympathy for them, but she had almost no
resources to work with and no experience in this area of the law. She didn't even depose
Michael Schiavo's siblings, who were key witnesses at the trial that decided whether Terri
would have wanted to be kept alive. Not surprisingly, Felos steamrollered her.
"The parents obviously had no idea what they were up against until it was too late.
It was only after the trial that they started going around to religious and right-to-life
groups to tell their story. These organizations were very supportive, but by that point
their options were already limited because the trial judge had entered a judgment finding
that Terri Schiavo would not have wanted to live.
"This fact is of crucial importance -- and it's one often not fully appreciated by
the media, who like to focus on the drama of cases going to the big, powerful appeals
courts: Once a trial court enters a judgment into the record, that judgment's findings
become THE FACTS of the case, and can only be overturned if the fact finder (in this case,
the judge) acted capriciously (i.e., reached a conclusion that had essentially no basis in
fact).
"In this case, the trial judge simply chose to believe Michael Schiavo's version of
the facts over the Schindlers'. Since there was evidence to support his conclusion (in the
form of testimony from Michael Schiavo's siblings), it became nearly impossible for the
Schindlers to overturn it. The judges who considered the case after the trial-level
proceeding could make decisions only on narrow questions of law. They had no room to ask,
"Hey, wait a minute, would she really want to die?" That "fact" had
already been decided.
"In essence, the finding that Terri Schiavo would want to die came down to the
subjective opinion of one overworked trial judge who was confronted by a very sharp,
experienced right-to-die attorney on one side and a young, quasi-pro bono lawyer on the
other.
"Nothing unusual about this, of course. It's the kind of thing that happens all the
time. But it's an interesting point to keep in mind when you read that the Schiavo case
has been litigated for years and has been reviewed by dozens of judges ... yadda yadda
yadda.
"By the way, I'm guessing that George Felos is probably quite happy to work the
Schiavo case for free at this point since it's making him one of the most famous
right-to-kill -- I mean right-to-die -- lawyers in the country. His BlackBerry has
probably melted down by now, what with all the messages from the hurry-up-and-die adult
children you've been blogging about."
How the Legal Battle
for Terri Shindler Schiavo's life was lost at the onset.Michael Schiavo and George Felos Fact - Once the malpractice
money was in the bank, Michael Schiavo refused to allow treatment for an infection that
Terri was suffering and ordered that she not be resuscitated in the event of cardiac
arrest.Michael
Schiavo Motives
An MRI or PET is needed to determine the level of brain damage Terri Schiavo Brain
Scan
Teenager Arrested for trying to sneak in a drink of water to Terri Schiavo Arrest Photo
My Journey With The Schindlers By Father
Robert J. Johansen Love
for Live Fight Against Death
Michael Schiavo - Money Trail Review - Intent
and Actions - Purpose Terri Schiavo Dead
What evidence is there concerning Terri's
strangulation? Schiavo Medical Evidence
Terri Schiavo versus Michael Schindler - Myths and Facts. Liberal Death Penalty ? Judge orders the premeditated killing
of disabled Florida womanJudge Greer The fight for Terri http://www.terrisfight.org Blogs for Terri -http://www.blogsforterri.com
