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CLEARWATER, FLA--Sixth Circuit Court Judge Crockett Farnell, one of the judges in the contentious guardianship case of Terri Schindler Schiavo, has indicated that he will not seek reelection to another six year term.
An assistant state attorney and an assistant public defender have announced their intentions to seek the Pinellas-Pasco judicial seat. Candidates will be Glenn Martin, a 21-year prosecutor with the state attorney's office of Bernie McCabe, and Christine Helinger who has been an assistant public defender in the circuit for the past 25 years.
Farnell was first appointed to the circuit court seat in 1982 and has been elected to subsequent six year terms. Administrative judge in the civil division from 1995 through 1997 and again in 1999, Farnell is currently assigned to the circuit court civil division where he has served since 1995.
In the Schiavo case, Farnell had granted a motion by estranged husband Michael Schiavo to present any discovery of information in the case by Terri's parents, Mary and Robert Schindler, in November, 2003 after they had filed a lawsuit to remove Schiavo as their incapacitated daughter's guardian.
The Schindlers had petitioned the court for Terri's brother, Bobby, to replace Schiavo as her guardian after they obtained information about a bone scan conducted by a radiologist in March 1991 that showed that Terri may have been a victim of physical abuse that led to her collapse and brain injuries.
After Schiavo attorney George Felos and the American Civil Liberties Union filed to block all discovery motions by the Schindlers to try and learn new information about how their daughter sustained her injuries, Farnell granted Schiavo's motion without even a hearing.
Schiavo's attorneys claimed that granting the Schindlers' motion for discovery would prevent Michael Schiavo access to the courts---never mind that for years Terri Schindler-Schiavo had been denied access to the courts due to the refusal of probate court judge George Greer to appoint independent counsel for the disabled woman as required by law.
It is even doubtful that she was represented by legal counsel in June, 1990, as required by law when Michael Schiavo and his then employer-attorney, Daniel Grieco, petitioned the court for guardianship although Schiavo appears to have intentionally, knowingly and willfully given false statements on his guardianship application given under penalties of perjury, fabricating a college degree that he never received.
Farnell ordered that "none of the parties to this case shall engage in any actions, including discovery, until after Judge George Greer has ruled on the Fourth Motion to Disqualify Judge".
Attorneys representing the Schindlers in the contesting of Schiavo's attempts to end his wife's life by the removal of her feeding tube had filed repeated motions seeking to remove Greer from the case on the basis of bias, prejudice and conflicts of interest as well as violations of guardianship law but Greer steadfastly refused to remove himself, saying that Schindler's motions were "legally insufficient" but without addressing the merits of the issue.
However, less than an hour after he issued the stay, Farnell convened an emergency hearing and reversed himself after Schindler's attorney, Patricia Fields Anderson, argued that the motion to remove Greer from the case should have no bearing on the case to have Schiavo removed from guardianship.
Greer ultimately once again refused to recuse himself in the Schiavo case, refused to remove Schiavo as guardian and executed the death warrant resulting in Terri's death on March 31, 2005, after Schiavo removed her feeding tube on Greer's order.
Anderson said that the attempt by Schiavo's attorneys "to thwart the discovery of important and previously undiscovered evidence speaks volumes. They appear to be scared of the truth coming out".
Farnell was also the judge in the case of Tampa attorney, Mark A. Adams. Farnell and the politically connected law firm of Battaglia, Ross, Dicus and Wein of St. Petersburg teamed up to bring contempt charges against Adams. Those charges were dismissed last November.
Adams is currently facing disbarment as the result of a grievance filed against him in Florida Supreme Court by the Florida Bar Association as the result of complaints filed against him by both the Battaglia law firm and Farnell.
Farnell's wife, district administrative judge Dee Anna Farnell has indicated that she will seek reelection for another six year term as has chief judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, David Demers. 4-30-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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