JURIST - Paper Chase: UPDATE ~ Schindler attorney claims Schiavo said she wants to live

[JURIST] In a startling turn of events in the Schiavo case that could be taken as either revelation or desperation, attorneys for Terri Schiavo's parents argued at a late Friday emergency hearing by telephone with a Florida circuit court judge that she told them last Friday - after her feeding tube was removed [JURIST report] - that she wanted to live. Attorney Barbara Weller claimed in a supporting affidavit [text] that she had been interacting with Schiavo and that at one point she told Schiavo that the matter could end if Schiavo could just say “I want to live.” Weller claimed that Schiavo responded to her, articulating the sounds "Ahhhhhhh" and "Waaaaaaaa". but could not continue. When asked by Judge George Greer why something had not been said about this earlier, principal Schindler attorney David Gibbs said he had been busy preparing for federal trial of Schiavo's case. Michael Schiavo attorney George Felos dismissed the contention that Terri Schiavo had communicated, calling it outrageous, a stall tactic and not reflective of any intent. Late this afternoon the Schindlers' attorneys also filed to have Judge George Greer removed from hearing any further motions in the Schiavo case on the grounds that he had persistently ruled against them over the past seven years and could not be impartial. Greer immediately denied that motion and said he would rule on the other motion on Schiavo's alleged statement by Noon Saturday. ABC WTSP-TV in Tampa has more.

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