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ST. PETERSBURG, FLA---The attorney who allegedly committed the fatal error in the Schiavo case, the basis for the denial of all future appeals which sounded the death knell for Terri Schiavo, will be honored by the St. Petersburg Bar Foundation at their "Heroes Among Us" dinner on Jan. 21.
 Pamela A.M. Campbell who represented Mary and Bob Schindler Sr. during the January, 2000 trial which resulted in the initial verdict of their daughter's legalized homicide will be one of three lawyers honored by the Bar Foundation as "lawyers who make a difference".
The dinner will be held at the Don Cesar Resort in St. Peterburg. Attorneys Lenny Milcowitz and Ed Lyons will also be recognized.
Many critics have charged that Campbell's inexperience and errors at the January, 2000 trial as well as Campbell's failure to do the proper pre-trial preparation and present expert medical witnesses cost Terri Schiavo her life. A review of the record and the relationships involved indicate that Campbell was ethically prohibited from even representing the Schindlers.
She not only lost the case at trial, but the trial error committed was the basis for the Schindlers to lose in every other court all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Once a case is tried and decision made on the merits, it is virtually impossible to have the decision reversed on appeal. Appellate courts review the merits of the case, not the credibility of the witness and thus when Greer ruled that Michael Schiavo's self-serving hearsay testimony was credible that Terri would not want to be kept alive, the die was cast for a denial at every appellate level.
Campbell obtained her law degree in 1989, served as president of the St. Petersburg Bar Association in 1998-99 during the time she was representing the Schindlers; president of the Stetson Alumni Association, 2001-02 and on the executive committee of the Masterson Inns of Court, serving as co-president this past year.
Campbell became involved in the guardianship case at the request of Gordon Woodworth, the attorney who represented Michael Schiavo in the 1992 medical malpractice trial when Schiavo claimed, and it has now been learned that the claim was fraudulent, that Terri's injuries had been caused because doctors who had been treating her had allegedly failed to diagnose bulimia and a potassium imbalance which had supposedly caused a heart attack resulting in her injuries.
However, Pinellas County medical examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin has said that Terri didn't have a heart attack, didn't suffer from bulimia and didn't have a potassium imbalance.
Campbell, hired by a Schiavo attorney, a conflict in itself, represented the Schindlers although she was ethically precluded from doing so, having bought out the law practice of one of the judges in the guardianship matter. She has now lauded the judge in the case who caused her client's daughter to lose her life----a life the Schindlers so desperately wanted to save.
When first deciding to challenge their son-in-law for the guardianship of their daughter, the Schindlers consulted a St. Petersburg attorney about removing Michael Schiavo and discussed the case at length with him.
Unfortunately, the Schindlers did not have the amount of money the attorney demanded as a retainer to take the case.
That attorney, Mark Shames, then became the judge in the case-----a totally prohibited conflict of interest.
Thereafter, Shames, the attorney-judge, approved the hiring of George Felos as the attorney for Schiavo to be paid from the trust fund and the stage was set for judicial homicide.
Since the inception of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo case in the Florida courts, it appears the fix has been in.
Not only did Shames allegedly try to covertly withdraw the feeding tube from Terri as early as 1997 but he had a wholly prohibited conflict of interest which tainted the case from the beginning and is clear evidence of the fraud and deception that existed in the case.
The Florida Code of Judicial Conduct dictates that a judge is mandated to disqualify himself in a proceeding in which he has personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding and if the judge has served as a lawyer (or been consulted) in the matter in controversy.
After the Schindlers discussed their potential case at length with Shames and wanted to hire him to represent them to remove the guardianship of their daughter from Michael Schiavo, Shames announced his candidacy for Sixth Circuit Court judge. Upon being elected, Shames was assigned the guardianship case of Schindler v. Schiavo and Shames failed to disqualify himself as required.
Woodworth, who represented Schiavo in his medical malpractice claim along with Gary Fox, was a contributor to Shames' 1996 judicial campaign as well as Campbell.
According to informed sources, after Shames ascended to the bench and donned his black robe, his law practice was bought out by Pamela Campbell, the attorney who then represented the Schindlers in the guardianship case----yet another blatant violation of judicial ethics and Florida Statutes. Campbell reportedly agreed to represent the Schindlers in 1998 at the request of Woodworth. She took the case to trial in 2000 without compensation.
In June, Campbell had presented an award for judicial excellence to the trial judge in the Schiavo case, death judge, Pinellas County probate court judge George W. Greer.
Campbell was one of the presenters of the William Castagna for Judicial Excellence to Greer at the End of the Year Banquet of the Barney Masterson Inn of Court held June 10 at the Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater, Florida.
Campbell was an outgoing co-president of the Inn of Court and presented the award to Greer with co-president Judge Shawn Crane, Sixth Judicial Circuit Court, criminal division, and in-coming president Kelly Feeley.
Campbell was also a banquet sponsor. The professional organization, for judges and attorneys recognizes "a local county or circuit judge who displays the highest standards of excellence in knowledge of the law, ethics, civility, professionalism, demeanor and commitment to the community.
Campbell and her associates decided that person was Greer, the judge who ordered that a disabled woman must die because she left no living will and on the basis of inadmissible hearsay evidence because her husband---albeit he had numerous ulterior motives including financial considerations---said she wouldn't want to be kept alive "artificially".
Campbell served with Greer last October in a Joint Circuit Workshop on Guardianship Fees. Joining them in the workshop was Alison Carpenter, guardian of the property in the Schiavo guardianship and estate. 12-26-05
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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