Governor Bush Asks for Jury Trial in Terri Schiavo Case – Also Asks for New Judge

TAMPA BAY, November 20, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Florida Governor Jeb Bush filed papers Wednesday in a case defending ‘Terri’s Law’ from a suit claiming the law is unconstitutional.  The suit was launched by Michael Schiavo, the husband of the severely disabled Florida woman whose feeding tube was removed for nearly seven days before the Florida legislature passed the law permitting Bush to order the reinsertion of the feeding tube.  Last week a court blocked Mr. Schiavo’s case from proceeding but on Tuesday an appeals court allowed the case to go forward, with the judge issuing statements seeming to indicate he was biased against Governor Bush, and requiring Bush to file papers in the case by Wednesday afternoon.  Bush’s lawyer Ken Connor took to task the claims of Michael Schiavo which have been repeated often by the media but without proof.  “Michael Schiavo is going to have to establish (at trial) that he has standing to represent his wife’s interests,” Connor said. “He’s going to have to establish that her right to privacy is infringed, that the governor is interfering with her health care choice.  You can’t just say that. You have to prove it,” he said.  Connor also asked for a replacement judge citing the actions of Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Douglas Baird as evidence of his bias in the case.  “The court has, in the short time that this case has been pending, made it clear that the governor cannot be afforded a fair and impartial forum”, said the Governor’s filing.  See local coverage:  https://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/20/Tampabay/Jury_trial_sought_to_.shtml