IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR PINELLAS COUNTY,
FLORIDA, SIXTH CIRCUIT, PROBATE DIVISION
IN RE: THE GUARDIANSHIP OF
THERESA MARIE SCHIAVO,
Incapacitated.
Ref#: 90-2908-GD-003
_______________________________
ROBERT SCHINDLER, et al.,
Petitioners,
v.
MICHAEL SCHIAVO,
Respondent.
//
SECOND AMENDED PETITION TO REMOVE GUARDIAN
Petitioners, Robert Schindler, Mary Schindler, Robert Schindler, Jr., and
Suzanne Schindler Carr Vitadamo, by and through undersigned counsel and
pursuant to Fla. Pro. R. 5.025 and 5.660, hereby petition this Court for its Order
removing Michael Schiavo (“Schiavo”) as Guardian of Theresa Marie Schiavo
(“Mrs. Schiavo” or “the ward”).
1.
Petitioners have an interest in the above guardianship as the
parents (Robert and Mary Schindler), brother (Robert Schindler, Jr.), and sister
(Suzanne Schindler) of the ward.
Page 2
2
2.
Michael Schiavo (“Mr. Schiavo”), the plenary guardian of the
person of Mrs. Schiavo, should be removed as guardian for the following
reasons:
I.
Abandonment of His Marriage to the Ward
(Florida Statute § 744.312(2)(a)
3.
Mr. Schiavo applied to be the guardian of Mrs. Schiavo
pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 744.312(2)(a), being related by marriage to the
ward.
4.
On June 18, 1990, Mr. Schiavo was appointed guardian of
the ward pursuant to his May 21, 1990, Verified Petition.
5.
For nearly a decade, since approximately 1995, Mr. Schiavo
has been openly cohabiting with, and is reportedly engaged to, a woman
who is not Mrs. Schiavo.
6.
Mr. Schiavo now has two children with the woman not his wife.
7.
In all but name, Mr. Schiavo’s “marriage” is now to the mother
of his children with whom he is cohabiting.
8.
Mr. Schiavo’s desire to legitimize his relationship with the
woman not his wife and their children is inhibited by Mrs. Schiavo’s
continued life; he and his domestic partner may not marry until either Mrs.
Schiavo is dead or he divorces her.
Page 3
3
WHEREFORE, The de facto dissolution of Mr. Schiavo’s marriage to
Mrs. Schiavo and his current committed domestic relationship with another
woman, who is the mother of his two children, disqualifies Schiavo from
continuing as Mrs. Schiavo’s guardian.
II.
Failure to Provide the Ward With
Her Florida Statute § 744.3215(1) Rights
9.
Petitioners reallege the facts in paragraphs 1-8 as if fully set out
herein.
10.
On May 11, 1998, the guardian applied for authority from this
Court to discontinue Mrs. Schiavo’s artificial life support, but intentionally
failed to supply his ward with independent counsel to represent her
individual, personal, and discrete privacy rights.
11.
On February 11, 2000, this Court authorized the guardian to
discontinue assisted feeding for Mrs. Schiavo without Mrs. Schiavo having
been given notice of the guardian’s petition for the authority or having been
represented by independent legal counsel.
12.
Since the 2000 Order of authorization, the guardian has twice
caused the discontinuance of Mrs. Schiavo’s life support and twice her
artificial life support has again been continued pending legal proceedings
appealing or seeking relief from the February 11, 2000, Order.
Page 4
4
13.
Throughout the almost seven-year legal battle surrounding Mrs.
Schaivo’s own life, the guardian has never retained for her her own
independent legal counsel to represent her individual, personal, and discrete
privacy rights.
14.
Throughout the almost seven-year legal battle surrounding Mrs.
Schaivo’s own life, the guardian has never permitted her to make an
appearance in court on her own behalf.
15.
In 2000, Mr. Schiavo caused Mrs. Schiavo to be placed in a
hospice facility in anticipation of withholding her food and water causing
her death by starvation and dehydration.
16.
By definition a hospice provides only a “continuum of
palliative and supportive care for the terminally ill patient and his or her
family” and “[p]alliative care’ . . .services or interventions . . . are not
curative.” Fla. Stat. § 400.601.
17.
The guardian has failed to provide Mrs. Schiavo with even the
palliative care of “the comprehensive management of the physical,
psychological, social, spiritual, and existential needs of patients” for Mrs.
Schiavo while she has resided at the Woodside Hospice.
18.
Since the 2000 Order of authorization, Mr. Schiavo has denied
Mrs. Schiavo:
Page 5
5
a.
Physical therapy;
b.
Orthopedic evaluations;
c.
Orthopedic treatment
d.
Speech therapy;
e.
Standard diagnostic tests and procedures;
f.
Gynecological care;
g.
Dental care; and
h.
Cognitive therapy.
19.
Since the 2000 Order of authorization, Mr. Schiavo has denied
Mrs. Schiavo:
a.
A wheel chair that would permit her to be able to leave
her isolated room, where she has been confined for more
than four years;
b.
The opportunity to attend Catholic Mass at her church;
c.
The opportunity to be taken to the social room at the
hospice to enjoy the companionship of her fellow-
residents.
d.
The opportunity to go out of doors and enjoy the
sunshine and fresh air, a right she has not enjoyed in
Page 6
6
more than a decade unless while being moved to an
emergency health care facility;
e
The opportunity for her parents to take her home for a
visit;
f.
The opportunity for her siblings or friends to take her on
an outing to the mall or elsewhere.
20.
Since Mrs. Schiavo’s 2000 placement in the hospice facility
some five years ago, the guardian has not caused and does not cause her to
be provided any rehabilitative services or adequate medical care required by
Fla. Stat. § 744.3215(1).
21.
The guardian’s orders to hospice staff have at various times denied
Mrs. Schiavo her right to enjoy such sensory stimulations as flowers and family
photos in her room, the opportunity to listen to music, and even to receive
light from a lifted window shade.
22.
The guardian has imposed visitation restrictions that greatly
reduce the number of visitors and the attendant enjoyment Mrs. Schiavo
could have from more frequent visits.
23.
The guardian-imposed visitation restrictions greatly reduce the
rehabilitative benefits inherent in the stimulation by, and the socialization
Page 7
7
and interaction with, others, including an amelioration of her loneliness and
isolation, caused by actions of her guardian over almost five years.
WHEREFORE, the guardian has violated and continues to violate
Mrs. Schiavo’s Fla. Stat. § 744.3125 nondelegable rights and is therefore
disqualified from further acting as guardian for Mrs. Schiavo.
III.
Failure to File Valid
Annual Guardianship Plans
(Fla. Stat. § 744.3675)
24.
Petitioners reallege the facts in paragraphs 1-23 as if fully set
out herein.
25.
Throughout his tenure as guardian, Mr. Schiavo has filed his
annual guardianship plans late or not at all, and when he does file he
provides incomplete and inaccurate information to the Court regarding
Terri’s condition and needs.
26.
Mrs. Schiavo purposefully interacts positively with her family
and her spiritual advisor with purposeful responses, affection, smiles,
vocalization, facial expressions, and laughter.
27.
Mrs. Schiavo purposefully communicates to her caregivers
when she is in pain or displeased with some aspect of her care or condition.
Page 8
8
28.
Mrs. Schiavo purposefully refuses to communicate with her
guardian, purposefully turning her head away from him and refusing to look
at him or try to communicate with him when he comes near her.
29.
The guardian has intentionally failed to update the Court
pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 744.3675(1)(c)(3) that his ward is interacting with
others, communicating her pleasure to her family and friends, her pain and
discomfort to her caregivers, and her purposeful snubs to her guardian, who
has twice withheld her artificially supplied food and water.
30.
The guardian has intentionally failed to update the Court
pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 744.3675(1)(a)(4) and (4) that the Woodside Hospice
is not the residential setting best suited for Mrs. Schiavo.
31.
The guardian has intentionally failed to update the Court
pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 744.3675(1)(b)(3) as to plans for the provision of
medical, mental health, and rehabilitative services for the coming year.
32.
The guardian has consistently claimed in annual guardianship
plans that Mrs. Schiavo is receiving all medical services and rehabilitative
services recommended by her physicians, but at the same time he has
forbidden physicians to provide his ward with necessary medical treatment
in life threatening situations medical emergencies, such as those that
occurred in 1993, 1999, and 2003.
Page 9
9
WHEREFORE, the guardian’s failure to plan for and update the Court
about plans for Mrs. Schiavo’s medical and rehabilitative treatment,
socialization, and improvements in her communication skills disqualifies
Schiavo from continuing as Mrs. Schiavo’s guardian.
IV.
Mismanagement of the Ward’s Assets
(Fla. Stat. §§ 744.474 (7) and (16)
33.
Petitioners reallege the facts in paragraphs 1-32 as if fully set
out herein.
34.
In 1992, Mrs. Schiavo was awarded more than $1 million for
her ongoing care and rehabilitation during her life expectancy, which was
estimated at that time to be at least 50 years.
35.
The guardian has not consistently used this money to enhance
the quality of Mrs. Schiavo’s life or the effectiveness of her medical care or
rehabilitative services.
36.
Almost $500,000 of the award to Mrs. Schiavo has been used to
pay for attorney’s fees and costs in the guardian’s attempt to remove Mrs.
Schiavo’s feeding tube and cause her death by starvation and dehydration.
WHEREFORE, the guardian’s mismanagement of Mrs. Schiavo’s
assets to cause her to die rather than to help her improve disqualifies Schiavo
from continuing as Mrs. Schiavo’s guardian.
Page 10
10
V.
Guardian’s Conflict of Interest
(Fla. Stat. § 744.446)
37.
Petitioners reallege the facts in paragraphs 1-36 as if fully set
out herein.
Legal Conflict of Interest
38.
Mr. Schiavo, as guardian of the person of Mrs. Schiavo, has
been represented by counsel throughout the legal proceedings surrounding
his Petition for Authorization to Discontinue Artificial Life Support filed
May 11, 1998, herein.
39.
In the almost seven years of litigation surrounding the
guardian’s Petition giving rise to this adversary proceeding herein, Mrs.
Schiavo has never been represented by independent legal counsel to protect
her individual, personal, and discrete interests in having or not having her
artificially supplied nutrition and hydration discontinued.
40.
In this almost five years since the Court determined that Mrs.
Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state, there have not been subsequent
medical determinations regarding improvement or the possibilities of
improvement in Mrs. Schiavo’s medical condition and/or medical and
rehabilitative treatment options.
Page 11
11
41.
The long and bitter adversarial nature of the Petition for
Authorization and the legal proceedings surrounding the Order of
authorization raises a conflict of interest and a desire in the guardian to
protect the 2000 Order, even at the cost of ending the life of the ward who is
now demonstrably interactive with her family, is not in a coma, is not
comatose but is aware of her surroundings.
Personal Conflict of Interest
42.
Schiavo’s committed and ongoing domestic relationship with
the mother of his two children, to whom he is now engaged and with whom
he has cohabited for nearly a decade, raises a significant conflict of interest.
43.
Given his ongoing refusal to divorce Mrs. Schiavo, her
continued life now stands between Schiavo and his ability to legitimize his
new domestic relationships with his current domestic partner and their
children.
44.
This current domestic relationship raises a conflict of interest
and a lack of impartiality, influencing Schiavo, whether consciously or not,
to remove the obstacle to his remarriage, i.e., his continued marriage to his
incapacitated wife.
Page 12
12
Religious Conflict of Interest
45.
The guardian does not share, nor has he respected, Mrs.
Schiavo’s religious faith and beliefs, including those regarding her end-of-
life wishes.
46.
The guardian denied Mrs. Schiavo the last rites of her Church
prior to the 2003 removal of her feeding tube which was intended to cause
her death by starvation and dehydration.
47.
The guardian has made provisions for Mrs. Schiavo’s cremation
upon her death, a practice that conflict with his ward’s deeply held Catholic
faith.
48.
The guardian’s disrespect and denial of Mrs. Schiavo’s spiritual
needs, religious rights, and sacred responsibilities because they do not
coincide with his own constitutes a serious conflict of interest in his
continued qualification to act as her guardian.
Financial Conflict of Interest
49.
The assets received by the guardian and Mrs. Schiavo in the
1992 medical malpractice lawsuit are assets, the remainder of which would
be inherited by Schiavo upon his ward’s death.
50.
The possibility of inheriting unused assets raises a serious
conflict of interest in that the guardian has had a personal interest, whether
Page 13
Page 14

http://www.terrisfight.org/documents/PetitionToRemoveGuardian.pdf

 

Return to: Terri Schindler Schiavo Index Page