Tampabay: Judge allows photos of Schiavo

CLEARWATER -- A Pinellas judge will allow Terri Schiavo's parents to have access to photos to be taken of their daughter Monday, the day before their son-in-law is expected to remove her feeding tube.

But, like everything else in this case, it took some negotiation.

Mrs. Schiavo's husband, Michael, agreed to pay a professional photographer to take pictures and videos of her between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. while her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, visit with her at her hospice facility.

The photographs will be kept by Schiavo's attorney until she dies, probably in one to two weeks after the tube is removed. Then the Schindlers will receive copies of all the photos and videos, which they can give to family and friends but not sell.

The hearing was the latest legal battle in a nationally publicized family feud that dates to Feb. 25, 1990, when Mrs. Schiavo collapsed from a heart attack and was deprived of oxygen for five minutes.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer has ordered the removal of Mrs. Schiavo's feeding tube at 3 p.m. Oct. 9. An appellate court considering the case this week could postpone that date until another hearing is held.

On Monday, the judge also allowed Mrs. Schiavo's siblings, Bobby Schindler and Suzanne Carr, to visit her again. Schiavo has barred them from doing so since April.

The Schindlers and Schiavo have accused each other of trying to control Mrs. Schiavo's fate to get $700,000 she received from a 1992 malpractice suit. Only about half of that remains; much of it has been used to pay for Schiavo's legal expenses and Mrs. Schiavo's medical care.

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