Friday, June 17, 2005

Terri's Case Not Closed

AP reports:

Probe Sought in Terri Schiavo 911 Call

Gov. Jeb Bush asked a prosecutor Friday to investigate why Terri Schiavo collapsed 15 years ago, calling into question how long it took her husband to call 911 after he found her.

In a letter faxed to Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe, Bush said Michael Schiavo testified in a 1992 medical malpractice trial that he found his wife collapsed at 5 a.m., and he said in a 2003 television interview that he found her about 4:30 a.m. He called 911 at 5:40 a.m.

"Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was made, and I am aware of no explanation for the delay," Bush wrote. "In light of this new information, I urge you to take a fresh look at this case without any preconceptions as to the outcome."

Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Friday from The Associated Press. In comments in The Miami Herald, he said Terri Schiavo would not have survived if her husband had not immediately called 911.

"It's absolutely preposterous," Felos said. "If he had waited 70 minutes she would have been dead."

Terri Schiavo died March 31 from dehydration after her feeding tube was disconnected at her husband's request, despite unsuccessful efforts by her parents, Bush and others to keep her alive.

An autopsy released Wednesday concluded that she had been in a persistent vegetative state and revealed no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused before she collapsed.

It left unanswered the question of why Terri Schiavo's heart stopped, cutting oxygen off from her brain. The autopsy showed she suffered irreversible brain damage and her brain had shrunk to half the normal size for her age.

First, PVS cannot be verified by an autopsy.

Second, this has to be a disappointment to Felos and his client. Two days ago, they were basking in the glow of the drooling MSM shouting that Michael Schiavo had been vindicated. He didn't abuse Terri and her brain was terribly damaged.

No one ever doubted that Terri was severely brain damaged as a result of her collapse and the atrophy from subsequent years of no therapy.

The autopsy concluded that she did not have a heart attack or an eating disorder. There was no explanation for her collapse determined. As I said earlier in the week, the autopsy raised troubling questions for Schiavo, rather than exonerating him.

Although the justice system was complicit in Terri's murder, maybe this time it won't fail her.

Jeb Bush is doing the right thing.

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