By The Empire Journal
Eyes across the nation are focused on the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Florida and how they will rule in the Terri Schindler-Schiavo case, the severely brain damaged woman who is scheduled to be executed by starvation with the removal of her nutrition and hydration at 1 p.m. Friday.
On Monday, Florida�s Department of Children and Families filed an appeal of last week�s decision of Sixth Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer who had denied the agency�s motion for intervention in the case in order to conduct a mandated investigation of some 30 allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation in the Schiavo case.
DCF has asked the appellate court to issue a stay in the death order until the matter can be heard and investigation completed.
The DCA is also considering several other motions filed by Terri�s parents, the Schindlers, of other Greer rulings in the case and has promised an expedited ruling by 5 p.m. Thursday. The Schindlers are also seeking a stay in the death order until all appeals can be heard.
The agency has indicated that estranged husband and guardian Michael Schiavo who seeks to end his wife�s life is the target of their investigation. Greer has ordered him to remove his wife�s feeding tube because he says she is in a persistent vegetative state and would not want to be kept alive by assisted feeding.
DCF had sought a 60-day stay of Greer�s death order in order to allow them to complete their investigation, saying that the termination of Terri�s life would hamper the investigation of the allegations, �many of which have previously gone on uninvestigated�, according to DCF.
But despite the agency�s statutory mandate to investigate, last week Greer denied their motion to intervene and their request for a stay, saying that �intervention is allowed only if the interests of justice so required and the the intervenor stands to lose or gain invaluable rights dependent on the outcome of the case�,
Apparently Greer doesn�t consider that executing an allegedly abused woman whose only �crime� is that she receives her food and water in an alternative manner than other people, constitutes granting a stay �in the interest of justice� in order to seek the truth in the matter.
The termination of life would prevent an investigation into her surroundings and circumstances by creating a mootness under the Adult Protective Statute, thus divesting DCF of its jurisdiction, Adult Protective Services investigator Michael Will told the court.
Will and chief regional legal counsel for DCF Kelly McKibben, DCF cited a 1972 decision by the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Lakeland which held that a trial judge was in error in his failure to allow (an agency) to participate in what was designated to their mandatory function.
DCF told Greer that �due to the investigation and the potential need for examination of the alleged victim, surroundings and circumstances as required by law, the DCF is interested, directly and immediately in that part of the guardianship proceeding which calls for the removal of life support because such action would deny DCF�s ability to meet its statutory duty�.
�Allegations in abuse reports go to the heart of whether abuse, neglect of exploitation has been perpetrated by the guardian such that any relief afforded by this court to this guardian prior to the conclusion of such investigation would be tragically misplaced�, the DCF told the court.
In his denial and refusal to allow DCF�s intervention in the case, Greer said that �people may die during the course of abuse. Most investigations and the investigation may become moot� which would seem to indicate that Greer advocates that in cases of murder caused by domestic abuse that the murder would preclude any investigation and prosecution of the person responsible.
Greer had ruled that the DCF intervention in a guardianship proceeding was not appropriate. He said that DCF�s statutorily mandated duty to investigation abuse reports and of providing services did not require intervention in a guardianship proceeding.
He said that in cases of emergency, the DCF was empowered to provide emergency services and then petition the court for authority within 24 hours. �No where is authority given to DCF to become a party to any guardianship as part of its duty�, Greer said.
Greer noted that the DCF�s position before the court is that Terri Schiavo musts be kept alive until it finishes its investigation so that it may furnish her with services if necessary. �What is particularly unsettling is that when asked whether DCF believed that part of its mandated duty was to review orders of this court, the answer from DCF counsel was yes�.
Greer apparently feels that he is omnipotent and autonomous and that no order issued by him should be subject to scrutiny or overturning.
In the past, while Attorney General Charlie Crist has denied that any allegations of abuse had been filed in the Schiavo case, Greer�s written decision did acknowledge that was untrue and that prior abuse reports had been received.
Although a DCF investigation was completed previously, Greer had waived the file in court saying �Oh, yeah, we received that� and indicated that it was closed after he sided with DCF counsel Frank Nagatani and refused to allow a DCF investigator to testify at a hearing in regard to alleged abuse. Natagani was a contributor to Greer�s reelection campaign.
Greer has consistently refused to allow evidence of alleged abuse into the court record saying that while it was interesting, it had no bearing on whether or not Teri Schiavo would want to be kept alive by food and water.
Although in the past, Schiavo and his attorney, George Felos had refused to acknowledge that there had been prior abuse allegations, with the entry of DCF into the case, Felos claimed that there had been 89 prior complaints which had been investigated and determined unfounded. Felos claims that he�d like to release those complaints but couldn�t because of confidentially concerns.
A Florida newspaper has now filed a petition with Greer seeking an order that would allow Schiavo and Felos to release the previous reports of abuse and the results of previous DCF investigations.
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