More detail here:
State investigators found no evidence that Terri Schiavo had been abused or exploited by either side of her family, according to documents released by Florida’s Department of Children and Families.
The agency investigated 89 complaints dating back to 2001, when Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed for the first time and the legal battle surrounding her right-to-die case intensified.
The calls alleged that the brain-damaged woman was being mistreated by her husband and her parents for financial gain. One complaint alleged that Schiavo’s parents were selling videos of her through a Web site; another said Schiavo’s husband wasn’t spending money intended for her rehabilitation.
But investigators said they found no evidence that either her husband or parents were exploiting her, and often noted in their records that they found Schiavo well cared for on their visits to her Pinellas Park hospice.
No evidence. None. No neglect. No abuse. All lies. Eighty-Nine complaints, and not one had any semblance of truth to it. And there are a number of bloggers who need to step up and admit they were wrong, and apologize to Michael Schiavo.
Of course, the fanatics will just claim that the investigation was improper, or incomplete, or that it still doesn;t matter because Michael ‘abandoned’ his wife and fathered ‘bastard’ children.
Who knows what they will say, since saying anything appears to be the modus operandi:
They [the government] should have moved in years ago when it became obvious her husband was abusing her through total neglect.
Why, I bet they found no evidence because the DCF is filled with soulless, God-hating, anti-religious types. Quick, someone call Bill Frist and Tom DeLay! We are fighting a culture war! We are fighting for a culture of life! We shall not be stopped, no matter who we stain with our bile!
S Ty
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/04/15.html#a2477
Mr Furious
I wish I could remember sources after these many weeks, but I remember reading that there was actually a restraining order/restrictions requested on Michael Schiavo because he was so demanding of his wife’s caregivers and that he was basically a pain in their ass. Also, that in her entire stay in the hospital, she never once had a bedsore. Sounds to me like he (and her family) did a pretty good job taking care of her.
Were the exonerating autopsy results ever released?
John
It wasn’t just bloggers who went after Michael on these false allegations. The media, from CNN to FOX, often insinuated the same.
I don’t expect any apologies to come, either.
John
Oh, and let’s not forget what Tom DeLay said:
“Well I’ve got to tell you, I don’t have a whole lot of respect for a man that has treated this woman in this way. He has refused to allow her to have therapy. He has refused to even let her have an MRI. For the last five years, five years, she’s been kept in a hospice and every time they’ve asked just to take her outside, which they can do, he has refused. She’s not been outside, I think, for the last three years. Um..uh, I think his abuse and neglect of his position as guardian is outrageous. And, and,…and partnered with this judge that has allowed him to treat Terry like this for the last eleven years is outrageous. And my question is, what kind of man is he?”
Human scum.
S.W. Anderson
As I pointed out in a post on this, I went to Free Republic and reviewed the post of an April 3 story about a refusal at that time to release the DCF findings on the 89 allegations of abuse, plus a thread of 238 comments that followed.
Those commenters, most very angry, held out not the slightest possibility that Michael Schiavo might be innocent of abuse or that Judge Greer might be acting properly under the law. The posts were full of assumptions and charges of abuse, crimes, collusion and/or bribery between Michael and the judge.
The people who posted all those angry, bitter, sometimes near-hysterical rants would be better off if they could bring themselves to admit they were wrong and do posts and comments to that effect.
But as you say, John, they’re more likely to insist it’s a cover-up, a whitewash, a conspiracy
Aaron
Innocent until proven guilty.
We should remember that sometimes.
Al Maviva
I hereby apologize to Michael Schiavo, and to his common law wife and family too.
mrgumby2u
Classy, Mr. Maviva. You clearly learned to frame an apology at the knee of Tom DeLay.
JG
Free Republic.com. What a site to visit. Where else can you find good christians writing such Christ inspired posts like ‘the Lord works in mysterious ways’ in a thread about Peter Jennings cancer. Some of the most vile, angry hateful postings I’ve ever read and most have scripture in thier taglines. Osama wants a holy war, Bush is giving it to him.
Al Maviva
I’m an attorney, Gumby, and I know the difference between an individual who approaches the court with clean hands, and one that doesn’t. The effort to beatify Michael Schiavo failed for me when I found out about the marital assets and his refusal to seek divorce at any time during his 10 year relationship with his other family. In most courts around the country, this behavior would have gotten him stripped of guardianship over his “wife” as having an insurmountable conflict of interest. In English, the guy’s lawyer (“it’s a man who only cares about his wife’s best interest”) shouldn’t be allowed to piss on our legs, and tell us its raining.
Kimmitt
And we all know the difference between someone who’s trying to pull a slick character smear and someone who isn’t. You don’t have to be an attorney to figure that one out.
scs2005
John Cole, sorry still no apologies here. I think one of the things that gets me angry about the Terri case is that so many intelligent people are using “authority think” a little too often. How about using our own (hopefully) fully functionaing brains for a change?
For instance, so many say there was “clear and convincing” evidence that it was Terri’s wish that she wanted to die. How do they know this? Because the “courts” determined it to be so. There is now, they say, clear and convincing evidence that Terri was not strangled and abused because the DFCS “determinined” it.
I don’t know whether the girl was abused or not. I imagine that some, maybe most, of the allegations were bogus from kooks calling in from things they heard in the media. But I am smart enough to know that just because the DFCS doesn’t say it, doesn’t mean it isn’t so.
For instance, can the Florida agency really determine if she had been smothered all those years ago, or if the needle holes in her body had injected her with quickly disappearing insulin, or if her broken bones on her bone scan were the result of abuse, or if the negative statements Michael alledgedly had made about Terri in front of some nurses really occurred? They would need more than just investigative powers for that, they would need a crystal ball.
I think its funny that (mostly) liberal anti-death penalties types are now putting so much stock in the ivestigative powers and wisdom of the authorities that be when they are the last ones to trust the validity of the pocesses that are behind the death row inmates becoming death row inmantes.
So even though the DFCS says one thing, I will perhaps take that vaunted Florida agency’s conclusions with a little bit of salt until I hear more facts about what and when and how all was investigated. And, for now, like a jury member, I will piece together my knowledge of the facts with a little trust in my own instincts to come up with my own judgements about what I believe.
Amazed
scs2005 wrote:
“For instance, can the Florida agency really determine if she had been smothered all those years ago, or if the needle holes in her body had injected her with quickly disappearing insulin, or if her broken bones on her bone scan were the result of abuse, or if the negative statements Michael alledgedly had made about Terri in front of some nurses really occurred? They would need more than just investigative powers for that, they would need a crystal ball.”
In answer to your question the DFCS did not make its determinations in a vacuum. Its determinations were made after reviewing the medical records. Its determinations were made after interviewing witnesses. Its determinations were made based upon fact finding. Its determinations were made after consulting with reliable experts in various fields. Its investigations were conducted by persons with specific education, training and experience with abuse cases.
No- they did not have or use a crystal ball. I think they left that kind of thing to the conspiracy theorists.
If you want to do your own research on the DFCS findings you can find what they released here:
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/news/schiavo1.pdf
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/news/schiavo2.pdf
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/news/schiavo3.pdf
For an interesting analysis that is definately NOT NON POINT OF VIEW (NPOV would be unbiased, this analysis of the DFCS findings has a definate slant):
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/apr2005/schi-a20.shtml