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 JACKSONVILLE, FL---The wife of the Jacksonville man who suffered serious head trauma and brain damage last September in the kitchen of his home in suspicious circumstances is a limited purpose public figure because of Internet discussions about another legal case---the Terri Schiavo case.
Her claim for libel against two Florida television stations has been dismissed because she didn't show that the stations defamed her, a Florida judge has ruled.
Eliza Thomas, 29, a Polish immigrant who married Jacksonville resident Scott Thomas, 34, had sued First Coast News, which comprises Jacksonville television stations WTLV TV and WJXX TV for reports beginning on May 16, 2005, regarding injuries suffered by Scott which resulted in neurological damage.
She says he fell backwards over the family dog in the kitchen of their home on Sept. 5, 2004, striking his head but doctors for the incapacitated man say that his injuries aren't consistent with such a fall. According to his mother, Scott says that his wife struck him in the head, causing serious head trauma.
The case has striking similarities to the Terri Schindler-Schiavo case of Pinellas County. He was placed on life support and on Nov. 12, 2004, his mother, Pamela Patton, filed a petition for temporary guardianship of Scott which his wife, Eliza opposed.
His mother says her son married Eliza about three years ago to keep her from being deported. Eliza had petitioned the court to move her husband to a hospice and remove his feeding tube which would cause his death, although his doctors and family say that he is making steady progress towards recovery, even eating some solid food. Scott was released from Brooks Rehabilitation Center in Jacksonville in June and is continuing his rehabilitation and therapy at the home of his mother.
According to his mother, Scott has indicated on videotape to his family and caregivers that Eliza is allegedly responsible for his injuries. The tape has been turned over to law enforcement officials.
In her Oct. 21 decision, Jacksonville Circuit court judge Karen K. Cole wrote that as a limited purpose public figure, Eliza Thomas faced a higher burden of proof in showing that the stations defamed her. Judge Cole found that Thomas didn't meet her burden.
Media counsel in the case which represented the TV stations, George Gabel of Holland & Knight of Jacksonville says that "this is recognition by a court that the Internet is playing a significant part in the public controversies of the day".
The Thomas story was first reported by The Empire Journal in articles written by June Maxam, TEJ co-publisher and thereafter, First Coast News and other outlets began coverage of the case.
The Court held that the issues involved "created public controversies, both because of the public interest in law enforcement investigations and because 'sizeable segments of society have different, strongly held views' on whether and under what circumstances feeding tubes should be removed from those unable to feed themselves".
Judge Cole said that although what she termed as the "traditional media" hadn't yet reported on the Thomas case, she found that a public controversy existed-mainly due to the numerous articles which had appeared "in electronic media". The Empire Journal published several in-depth articles on the Thomas case, gaining the attention of other media outlets.
"Plaintiff must prove by clear and convincing evidence that First Coast News published an alleged defamation knowing it was false, or while subjectively entertaining serious doubts as to the truth of the publication", Cole ruled.
Because Eliza Thomas had not presented any evidence that First Coast News acted with actual malice, knowing or reckless disregard for the truth, the judge granted the TV's station motion for summary judgment, dismissing Thomas' libel claim.
Gabel says the decision is important because it helps protect media which begins to report on Internet controversies. He says that the networks used to control the news but "it's not that way anymore. We were able to put out to the judge that the Internet is a significant source of public information to create a public controversy".
There are several investigations still open in the matter including one by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department and complaints made to Florida's Division of Children's and Families (DCF) The allegations of criminal conduct were mentioned last November in court at the guardianship hearing in which Patton was first awarded temporary guardianship of her son.
No one else was at home at the time of Scott's fall. Although his wife maintains that she was in another room at the time of the fall, she also claims to have knowledge of how Scott fell.
His mother says that her son has indicated on a videotape given to police that his wife is allegedly responsible for his injuries, indicating that she allegedly intentionally struck him in the head. He has indicated that he does not wish to see her and she had not been visiting him at the rehab center.
Although Scott had indicated that he wished to see his infant son, the wife reportedly attached the stipulation that the baby would not be allowed to visit unless she accompanied the child.
At the time of the incident, Scott had just returned home from yet another of his repeated hospitalizations which were being necessitated because he had been experiencing reoccurring stomach problems. His mother says that although doctors did numerous tests, they could not diagnose the cause of her son's illness.
Last October, only a few weeks after Scott was injured, it was learned that his wife was trying to have him admitted to a hospice and have his feeding tube removed. Following a hearing before Judge William Wilkes of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court at which an assistant state attorney testified that a criminal investigation into the incident had been opened, Scott's mother was granted a six month temporary guardianship.
Despite the allegations of criminal conduct voiced by the assistant state attorney during the hearing, Judge Wilkes awarded Scott's wife unsupervised visitation.
Scott has a limited vocabulary, but can soundlessly form words and answers yes/no questions with hand signals. When doctors tested his responses, Scott correctly answered factual questions even though trick questions were included to rule out the possibility that the responses were involuntary.
According to his mother, for almost a year prior to his injuries, Scott was hospitalized about every three months for severe stomach pain. No diagnosis was made despite numerous medical tests that did not include toxicology. Patton wants to hire a forensic investigator to test a hair sample she took from her son last fall. Such testing may indicate the presence of toxins.
In September, on the one year anniversary of Scott's accident, a new website, www.scottsfight.com , was announced for the purpose of educating people about Scott's case.
According to the site, because Scott has been labeled incapacitated, Judge ilkes will not listen to his witness and therefore has not yet agreed to give his mother permanent custody. On July 18, he instead only renewed the temporary guardianship order. The next hearing is scheduled for January, when the judge will again consider whether to give guardianship back to the wife, as a spouse has preeminence in guardianship cases.
In May, Bob Schindler, father of Terri Schiavo who died March 31 after her husband was successful in obtaining a court order for the removal of her feeding tube, released the following statement directed to Scott's wife. "The suffering our daughter endured and her death over the course of nearly two weeks was horrific. I am pleading with Mrs. Thomas to please reconsider her decision to seek the removal of Scott's feeding tube and to allow him to receive the therapy and rehabilitation he needs to improve. I beg Mrs. Thomas to give her husband a chance."
The family had filed a complaint in October with Florida's Department of Children and Families, statutorily charged with investigating complaints of alleged abuse, neglect and exploitation but family members said DCF told them the agency could not become involved because Scott was not disabled at the time of the alleged incident. However, he had just returned home from a hospital stay, one of several in the months leading up to his head injury.
11-1-05
June Maxam is the publisher of The North Country Gazette, co-publisher of The Empire Journal and co-managing editor, copy/layout editor of Diogenes, magazine of the National Judicial Conduct and Disability Law Project.
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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