Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
A court was to consider whether to allow access to Ted Williams' medical records. But a decision by his executor leaves the matter in limbo.
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 16, 2002
INVERNESS -- A hearing scheduled for today in the Ted Williams case has been indefinitely postponed as both sides wait for a judge to decide whether the legal struggle should continue.
During the hearing, the court was expected to address a motion filed by an attorney for Williams' youngest children that sought to bar access to Williams' medical records and other documents.
Williams' oldest daughter, Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell, had requested the records to verify the authenticity of a handwritten pact allegedly signed by her father stating he wanted to be cryonically frozen after his death.
The legal struggle for the body was thrown off track last week when the executor of Williams' estate withdrew his request for help from the court in regard to the Hall of Famer's body. The lawyer for John-Henry and Claudia Williams said the move effectively ended the legal battle that began just days after Ted Williams' death and, as a result, they no longer need the order banning access to the medical records.
But Ferrell's lawyer, John Heer, said his client plans to continue the fight to retrieve her father's body from an Arizona cryonics lab and have the remains cremated in accordance with his 1996 will.
"Mrs. Ferrell will renew her efforts to obtain relevant information . . . so that she can ultimately present her evidence, including various witnesses, to prove what Ted Williams' actual wishes were," Heer said in a news release.
Ferrell has filed a motion asking a judge to order a hearing in the matter. The lawyer for her half-siblings, Robert Goldman, submitted a response, saying Ferrell doesn't have the authority to continue the legal battle.
Circuit Judge Patricia Thomas will decide that question at another hearing, not yet scheduled.