If "rumors" is defined as "testimony not allowed in the court case" then yes, it's rumors. Kinda like that rumor that neurology has progressed since PVS was initially defined back in what, 1972.
other "rumors": -- Terri was planning to move out and had made definite plans to share an apartment with a friend. -- The paramedics responsing to the case flagged it as suspicious for domestic violence. But personally, I find starving someone to death against their will to be sufficiently abusive. I also find the following most instructive -- it provides a paradigm which accounts for the actions of Judge Greer. http://www.theempirejournal.com/0313055_schiavogate_the_big_cove.htm (snip) "Guardianship is an area ripe for fraud and where most fraud abuse has in fact occurred", DeBlaker has said. Particularly critical of the way that the Sixth Circuit Court judges handle guardianships is Robert W. Melton, chief deputy director internal audit division, certified public accountant, certified fraud examiner with the Pinellas County Circuit Court. During public hearings conducted by the Florida Guardian Task Force appointed by Florida legislators to address guardianship reform, Melton testified that in his office was being "stonewalled" in their attempts to audit guardianship. According to a report appearing in the April, 2004 issued of the Gulf Coast Business Review by Francis Gilpin, associate editor, Melton told the task force that "In Pinellas County, attempts are being made to limit the clerk's authority", a county where George Greer is the Administrative Judge of the Probate Division. "This ranges from guardians that refuse to submit to an audit unless a court order is received, to judges that question the authority of the clerk to use professional auditing staff to conduct the audits". While Melton advocates opening the guardianship process to public review, Greer is opposed to that practice. Melton said openness would be one way to prevent improprieties, making public the initial inventories of wards' estates and the annual accountings of assets that guardians are required to file with the court. "The lack of public scrutiny breeds misdeeds and misappropriations because people who may know the truth would not have access", according to Melton. Greer has reportedly said that he sees more potential for financial abuse by immediate family members who create guardianships or gain power of attorney status than by professional guardians. Melton told the task force that there have been times when a Pinellas judge, whom he did not name, has prevented clerk's auditors from examining the entire record of a guardianship case. Melton told the task force that the assets of wards are being transferred into pooled trusts that he says operate imprudently outside the supervision of the courts. He adds that the real estate of wards is being sold at below-market prices to land trusts whose owners don't have to be disclosed. Pooled trusts are promoted as a legal method for wards to maintain Medicaid eligibility in nursing homes, according to Melton. "When we have both guardians and judges trying to keep auditors out, we have a system ripe for corruption and fraud", Melton said. Former chief Judge F. Dennis Alvarez of the 13th Circuit, Hillsborough County, says that Pinellas County has historically resisted guardianship reform. Perhaps that's because there's big money to be made among lawyers and other players in guardianships---particularly in the disposition of assets of wards including real and personal property including real estate, jewelry and antiques in addition to the guardian fees. Melton says that Pinellas judges, which include George Greer, not only keep court records hidden from public view but are anxious to extend the cloak of secrecy to the audits. In February, 2004, Melton recommended to Chief Judge David Demers that he take a closer look at guardianships in the Sixth Circuit. Greer recently unsuccessfully challenged Demers for the position of chief judge of the circuit. In 2002, the same year as Schindlers filed their previous petition before Greer for the removal of Schiavo, ignored by Greer, court auditors concluded that court officials had failed to monitor guardianships carefully. The clerk's office, which systematically reviews about 2,400 guardianships in Pinellas County annual, set up a fraud hotline. Te report suspected fraud in a guardianship to county auditors, call 727-453-3728. While conducting audits of guardianship reports, the Pinellas clerk's office discovered serious irregularities. Pinellas County state attorney Bernie McCabe confirmed in 2003 that a preliminary inquiry had been initiated by his office into selected Pinellas guardianships. However, despite the by then well-publicized failure of Michael Schiavo to file his required guardianship plans and accountings, McCabe took no action in that case. He opened an inquiry into Adult Comprehensive Protection Services which managed the assets of 300 of the county's elderly and infirm and which had allegedly mismanaged the funds of some of the county's most vulnerable residents. The inquiry was stonewalled when the ACPS attorney denied access to minutes of the agency's board of directors. The attorney was Richard Pearse, the former guardian ad litem in the Terri Schiavo case Pearse had recommended that the feeding tube not be removed in his GAL report to Greer in 1999. Thereafter, Schiavo petitioned Greer for Pearse's removal as GAL and Greer complied. Since then, Greer has refused to appoint a new guardian ad litem, acting in the role himself---prohibited by Canon 3 of the state Code of Judicial Conduct. No judge may serve as a guardian unless the ward is a member of his own family. Melton and other critics say the court system favors the guardian. When court challenges are raised to a guardianship as in the Schiavo case, the proof needed by the petitioner is in documents which are sealed by the court---and Greer----claiming its for the protection of the ward. When complaints are made to law enforcement agencies such as in the Schiavo case, officials such as McCabe---with a prohibited conflict of interest with Greer, and former Sheriff Everett Rice who also had a prohibited conflict of interest with Greer as well as being a member of the board of directors of the Hospice Foundation of Florida Suncoast, a subsidiary of the corporation operating the hospice where Terri Schiavo is a resident, claim it's a civil matter being handled by the courts. According to critics, guardianships are based on the assumption that the court will provide oversight, the guardian will be honest and discharge his duties toward the ward responsibly. "When we have both guardians and judges trying to keep the auditors out, we have a system ripe for corruption and fraud", De Blaker and Melton told the task force. "The practices I have seen in the short time I have been involved in guardianships is shocking", Melton said. "It's time to put an end to unscrupulous practices at the expense of our state's most vulnerable citizens". Politically connected attorneys who stand to profit handsomely from guardianship fees are involved with alleged guardianship abuse. In Greer's 2004 reelection campaign, a massive $144,000 was raised in campaign contributions, said to be the largest amount ever raised in a judicial campaign. More than half of those contributors were attorneys----attorneys whose practices in real estate, probate, wills and elder law stand to profit greatly from guardianships to which they are court appointed by probate judges such as George W. Greer. . On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 13:02:38 -0500, Larry C. Lyons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Again this is just rumours. The Schinders have been trying character > assassination since they could win on the facts of the case. > > larry > > On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 11:46:02 -0400, Jochem van Dieten > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dana wrote: > > > I'd be willing to bet money that they don't. > > > > I don't know which rules apply in Florida, but in quite a few places an > > autopsy would be mandatory based on the facts surrounding the death. And > > even if that is not the case in Florida, if anybody has filed a police > > report about the alledged abuse 15 years ago it should be trivial to > > require an autopsy. > > > > So has anybody filed a police report or have people just spread rumours? > > > > Jochem > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Flash for programmers - Flash MX Pro http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=56 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:151948 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
