|
The Terri Schiavo case was built on a lie.
While Florida Governor Jeb Bush conducted a dog and pony show claiming that he tried to save her life, the sincerity and earnestness of his actions is seriously tarnished by his inane act of calling a news conference to announce his intent to enter into the Woodside Hospice to take the vulnerable adult into protective custody. Had he earnestly had an intent to save the incapacitated woman’s life, he would have quietly performed his constitutional duty.
Jeb Bush is still refusing to perform the duties of his office, refusing to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged false written statements and declarations of Michael Schiavo.
In fact, his legal counsel is still trying to maintain that there’s nothing that the Governor can do in the case. The statute of limitations has not expired in regard to the alleged false application for employment that Michael Schiavo filed with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department and former sheriff Everett Rice in July, 2004 and he may be able to be prosecuted for falsely stating academic credentials in the original application he filed with the court for guardianship of his wife.
It appears as though his guardianship was obtained by fraud and as a result of that fraud, an innocent woman died.
Although Schiavo filed a false verification with the sheriff’s department, he was hired and is now reportedly receiving $68,000 annually plus benefits from Pinellas County taxpayers.
When Michael Schiavo filed his application for guardianship of the brain damaged woman in June, 1990, he made an alleged false declaration, several of them and instead of being named guardian and given the authority to kill his wife, had the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court followed the rule of law, Schiavo should have been arrested.
Not only did Michael Schiavo make provable false statements about his employment history under penalties of perjury, stating he was employed in Florida three years longer than he lived there, but he falsely stated that he had received a degree from Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania. There’s virtually no doubt that was done knowingly, intentionally and willfully as he knew or should have known that he received no college degree from Bucks County. Although he met Terri while they were both attending the college, neither finished and he has acknowledged that fact in his book as well as in sworn testimony.
Florida Statutes, Section 817.567, Making False Claims of Academic Degree or Title, say that no person in the state may claim, either orally or in writing, to possess an academic degree…..or the title associated with such degree, unless the person has, in fact, been awarded said degree from an institution as defined by statute”.
A person who violates this provision of law is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree and by law, in addition to any penalty imposed by the statute, a violator shall be subject to any other penalty provided by law, including, but not limited to, suspension or revocation of the violator’s license or certification to practice an occupation or profession.
That would include licenses in respiratory therapy and nursing.
But although the registrar’s records at Bucks County Community College prove that Michael Schiavo did not even complete two years at the college to say nothing about earn an associates degree as he claims and although the guardianship application he signed under sworn oath falsely states he is a degree recipient, the Florida Department of Health says there’s no probable cause to revoke his nursing license.
On March 7, the day after The North Country Gazette posted a story about a bill passed in the State of Washington that would criminalize lying on resumes and job applications about academic credentials, the Florida Department of Health said they had closed the investigation of Schiavo’s nursing license for unprofessional conduct, failure to comply with Florida Statutes and deceit, dishonesty, misrepresentation in sworn applications including his application for employment as nurse.
But unbelievably, despite the indisputable evidence, the Probable Cause Board for the Board of Nursing closed the case “after reviewing the relevant records, including the uniform complaint, witness statements and the relevant records, without a finding of probable cause” according to Donna A. Gerace, assistant general counsel of the DOH Prosecution Services Unit.
Gerace refuses to respond to inquires by the newspaper and hasn’t produced the copies of the alleged witness statements or identified the “relevant records” on which DOH claims to based its determination.
Neither will Gerace or the DOH reveal the name of the St. Petersburg medical malpractice investigator who purportedly conducted the investigation, names of members of the Probable Cause Panel and copies of the minutes of the Board of Nursing session at which this matter was reviewed.
Gerace and the state DOH are required to conform with the state Public Records Act and the newspaper will ask the state Attorney General’s office to review DOH’s refusal to respond to the request under the Sunshine Law.
The Schiavo matter isn’t yet closed though. The DOH determination wasn’t received until March 10 and pursuant to Section 456 of Florida Statutes, the complainant has 60 days to provide additional information to the Probable Cause Panel which could reconsider whether or not probable cause exists.
In that there is at least one prosecutable action open with the alleged filing of the false employment application, Gov. Bush’s office was asked to review the determination and use the powers and duties vested in him to take action in regard to opening a criminal investigation into the matter.
Although the request was made to the Governor’s office and counsel Raquel Rodriguez on March 19, no response was received until Thursday, claiming that he has no authority to act.
Pursuant to Florida statutes, Bush could order the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the matter for possible criminal charges and appoint a special prosecutor to handle the matter due to the widely known conflicts of interest of Bernie McCabe, Pinellas County state attorney even if McCabe refuses to voluntarily step aside.
There is precedent already set for the appointment of such a special prosecutor. On May 30, 1991, the wife of Bill Sybers, chief medical examiner for the Panama City area died in mysterious circumstances. Under Florida law, a prosecutor can ask to be relieved of a case anytime he feels he might have a potential conflict.
In the Sybers case, three state attorneys refused to open an investigation into the Sybers death. Florida’s Governor at the time, Lawton Childs, removed the state attorney from the matter and appointed a special prosecutor who eventually arrested Sybers and charged him with the murder of his wife.
Nicole D. Quinn, assistant general counsel in the Governor’s office says that “as you are well aware, the Governor was concerned about protecting and preserving Ms. Schiavo’s rights which is why he worked so hard to ensure that the laws were faithfully executed”.
However, the complaint before the Governor doesn’t deal with Terri Schiavo but rather the alleged false statements made by Michael Schiavo and alleged unprofessional conduct which appear to constitute grounds for the removal of his professional licenses due to integrity and honesty issues.
Quinn says that “the Department of Health is responsible for reviewing complaints concerning quality of care issues. I have reviewed the allegations in your email concerning the Department of Health’s investigation and have forwarded the email to the Department of Health for further review”.
She maintains that Governor lacks the authority to take steps for the investigation and prosecution of Michael Schiavo for the alleged false statements made to the court and Pinellas County Sheriff’s office.
“The decision to file criminal charges lies exclusively with the state attorney’s office. Moreover, it is exclusively within a court’s jurisdiction to act upon false statements made during court proceedings”.
Bernie McCabe, the state attorney and the Pinellas County court have consistently refused to hold Michael Schiavo accountable.
The employment application verified by Michael Schiavo before Priscilla Levine on July 19, 2004, contains provable material omissions which render the application to contain false statements.
A complaint had been lodged against Michael Schiavo last August for alleged misrepresentation in his sworn application for employment as a nurse with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department and for allegedly filing a sworn application with the Pinellas County Court for guardianship fabricating a degree from Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania.
The Probable Cause Panel is composed of professionals and/or laymen who are appointed by the Governor to serve as members of the board. It is their decision whether or not formal charges, an administrative complaint, will be filed.
Lying on resumes about academic credentials has become pervasive nationwide and earlier this month, lawmakers in the state of Washington took steps to send such liars to prison.
Washington state senators unanimously approved a bill that would make giving or using a fake or otherwise unaccredited degree a class C felony, a crime of fraud that could warrant up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. It would also be illegal to lie orally, as well as in writing, about educational background when trying to get a job or other kind of benefit. The House had already passed the measure.
In December, The North Country Gazette had learned that an investigator in the St. Petersburg office of the Florida Department of Health had been assigned to the Schiavo case.
A complaint filed against Schiavo for unprofessional conduct from deception, deceit, dishonesty and misrepresentation in the filing of applications and statements made under penalties of perjury in August, 2005, had been deemed legally sufficient for investigation by DOH in December.
Florida DOH is statutorily given jurisdiction to investigate matters involving possible violations by licensees or allegations of unlicensed practice of profession as regulated by the department which include nursing and respiratory care.
For a complaint to be deemed legally sufficient for investigation, the allegation must constitute a possible violation of a licensee’s practice act or governing rules and must contain adequate documentation to support the allegation.
Copies of the employment application which Schiavo had presented to the sheriff’s department in July, 2004 were provided with the complaint in addition to a copy of a guardianship application submitted by him in 1990 in which Schiavo allegedly falsely stated that he was the recipient of a degree from Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania. The complaint also includes allegations that Schiavo failed to comply with provisions of Florida’s guardianship law and allegedly violated the state’s co-habitation law.
It is alleged that Schiavo misrepresented his arrest record on the application to the sheriff’s department. Under the section of the application regarding arrests and summonses, Michael Schiavo omitted at least four citations which by itself is grounds, according to the application, for his termination from employment and should constitute grounds for the suspension and/or revocation of his professional licenses as his application as filed contained alleged false statements.
Schiavo is the husband of the late Terri Schindler-Schiavo who died March 31 at Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park 13 days after he removed her nutrition and hydration, lobbying in the courts and particularly the court of Pinellas County probate judge George Greer, for nearly a decade to gain court permission to kill his wife.
In the case of the guardianship application, this information did not come to light until 2004 due to an alleged intentional misrepresentation by Michael Schiavo that he had presented copies of the application and given notification to the next of kin of his proposed ward, Mary and Robert Schindler Sr., when in fact he allegedly did not nor, on information and belief, did he give them proper legal notice of the hearing conducted for the petition for guardianship. This alleged fraud, concealment and intentional misrepresentation of facts prevented the discovery of the alleged violation and false statement until last fall. By law, the statute of limitations would not begin ticking until the alleged false statement becomes known. Pursuant to Section 92.525, knowingly making a false statement under penalties of perjury is a three degree felony and charges can be brought anytime within three years from the time of the discovery of the falsity.
Therefore, according to law, Michael Schiavo could still be prosecuted for the alleged false guardianship application.
According to the clerk’s office of the Pinellas County court, there is no reportedly no certificate of service on file that lends proof that the Schindlers were served with notice of the guardianship hearing which was held on June 18, 1990. They did not become aware of the guardianship application containing Schiavo’s false academic credentials did not become known to them and others until 2004. 4-20-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
|
