Newswire

Fla. Judge Rejects Last Request

Greer Rejects Appeal

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- A state judge on Saturday rejected another attempt by Terri Schiavo's parents to have her feeding tube reconnected, rejecting what the couple's lawyer described as their last chance to keep their severely brain-damaged daughter alive.

Bob and Mary Schindler claimed in the motion filed Friday that their daughter tried to say "I want to live" just before her feeding tube was removed, saying "AHHHHH" and "WAAAAAAA" when asked to repeat the phrase.

Doctors have said Schiavo's past utterances were involuntary moans consistent with someone in a vegetative state. The 41-year-old woman suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance.

Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, says she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

As of Saturday afternoon, Schiavo had been without food or water for eight full days, and doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of her feeding tube being pulled.

David Gibbs III, the Schindlers' lead attorney, described the motion before Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer the couple's last legal option, saying the couple had ended their federal appeals less than a week after Congress passed an extraordinary law to let them take the case to federal court.

"There is nothing that can be brought back to the court federally that will in any way help Terri," Gibbs said.

After Geer's ruling Saturday, the Schindlers were holding out hope for an unlikely intervention by Gov. Jeb Bush, who has said he has done everything in his power to take custody of Schiavo.

Her lawyers, however, have said Schiavo — whose dehydrated body has begun to shut down — may not survive the weekend.

"Time is moving quickly, and it would appear most likely — absent the state court stepping forward — that Terri Schiavo will pass the point that she will be able to recover over this Easter weekend," Gibbs said.

State and federal courts have repeatedly ruled against the Schindlers, and the motion filed Friday before Greer had been considered a long shot. Attorneys for Michael Schiavo argued Friday that the Schindlers had abandoned all pretense of the law and were simply making "a pure emotional appeal."

Bob Schindler pleaded with Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene by taking temporary custody of their daughter while court challenges are argued. Bush, who has been a staunch supporter of the Schindlers, said Thursday he is not willing to go beyond the boundaries of his powers and that he was hoping the courts would provide relief.

Outside the hospice, eight more people — including a 10-year old boy and 13-year-old twin girls — were arrested Friday for trying to bring her water.

"I'm so discouraged, I feel so helpless," said Christine Ambrusko, a student from Atlanta. "I don't know how in our civilized country we can allow a person to be starved to death with so many questions unanswered."


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151585,00.html

Posted by Editor at March 26, 2005 01:11 PM