News media to be allowed to broadcast video of woman in coma
By The Associated Press
10.08.02
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CLEARWATER, Fla. — The videotaped medical examinations of a woman who has been in a coma for 12 years will be allowed to be broadcast by the news media, a judge has ruled.
Oct. 2.
Terri Schiavo, 38, has been in a coma since 1990, when a heart attack temporarily cut off oxygen to her brain.
Schiavo's husband and guardian, Michael, has spent years fighting in court to disconnect his wife's feeding tube. He says she once told him she would not want to be kept on life support.
The woman's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, disagree. They say their daughter reacts to them during visits and her condition might improve if their son-in-law would allow some of what remains of a $700,000 trust fund to be spent on tests and treatments.
Circuit Judge George Greer said on Oct. 2 that he wanted to ensure news media access to the trial, so he would not prevent the media from taping a video monitor playing the medical exam footage during coverage of the courtroom proceedings.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, argued that the footage should be restricted from the news media to preserve his wife's privacy.
But the Schindlers' lawyer, Patricia Anderson, said Schiavo "doesn't want the public to see Terri responding to her environment."
Up to four hours of footage may be shown in the trial if the videos are introduced as evidence.
