Jeb Bush's attorneys want to depose seven people, including the husband of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo.
By Associated Press
Published November 27, 2003
TAMPA - A husband battling Gov. Jeb Bush in court over the fate of the man's severely brain-damaged wife is trying to block Bush's attorneys from questioning some potential witnesses.
George Felos, an attorney for Michael Schiavo, asked a judge Tuesday to stop Bush's attorneys from taking depositions from seven people, including Schiavo and the woman with whom he now lives.
Felos contends that testimony of those witnesses would be irrelevant to the issue at hand - the constitutionality of a state law that let Bush order reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube last month.
He accused the governor of trying to improperly intervene in the fight over Terri Schiavo's guardianship. Her parents have mounted a court challenge to try to show their son-in-law as unfit to be legal guardian.
Bush's attempt to depose the witnesses "is nothing more than an attempt by the governor to reopen guardianship proceedings, something he is not permitted to do in this case," the motion said.
Bush's attorney, Kenneth L. Connor, in a court filing Monday, said that in addition to Schiavo and the woman with whom he lives, Jodi Centonze, depositions will be sought from Schiavo's brother and sister-in-law, Scott and Joan Schiavo, and three doctors who have examined Terri Schiavo.
All but Centonze have testified in previous court proceedings in the case. Scott and Joan Schiavo testified about what they said were Terri Schiavo's statements that she would never want to be kept alive artificially.
Bush spokeswoman Alia Faraj said the governor's attorneys need to question the witnesses to determine whether they have relevant testimony.
"This is an opportunity for the governor and the governor's legal representation to make those decisions themselves," she said.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird, presiding over the constitutional case, had not yet seen the motion, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Michael Schiavo is suing the governor over last month's hastily passed law that let Bush intervene in the six-year long legal battle over the fate of Terri Schiavo, who has been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990.
Michael Schiavo has said his wife never wanted to be kept alive artificially. Doctors had removed the feeding tube keeping her alive when the Legislature gave the governor the power to intervene and order the tube reinserted.
Terri Schiavo's parents dispute that she is in a persistent vegetative state.
