Governor Bush calls for probe of Schiavo husband

MIAMI - Florida Governor Jeb Bush asked a prosecutor to investigate why Terri Schiavo collapsed 15 years ago and how long it took her husband to call for help -- a move the husband denounced as an outrage.

Bush, who worked to keep the brain-damaged woman on a feeding tube before her March 31 death, said in a letter to State Attorney Bernie McCabe that the autopsy report released on Wednesday showed a gap between the time Michael Schiavo discovered his wife unconscious and the time he phoned 911 to summon medical aid.

"Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was made and I am aware of no explanation for the delay," Bush said in the letter.

McCabe agreed to investigate, said an aide to the Republican governor, the brother of President George W Bush.

Schiavo died almost two weeks after her feeding tube was removed by court order and at her husband's request. Her death came after a bitter feud between Michael Schiavo and Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, that provoked fierce political debate over end-of-life issues.

Michael Schiavo called Bush's request for the investigation "an outrage" aimed at deflecting attention from the medical examiner's report, which he said "has shown the Schindlers' claims and governor's position to be untrue."

"It is sickening that the Schindlers and Governor Bush, for their own selfish reasons, want to keep this case going," he said.

Michael Schiavo has said he phoned for help as soon as he found his wife on the floor in their home on February 25, 1990, and the autopsy report said the call was made at 5:40 am.

Bush did not allege in his letter a crime had been committed. But he said Michael Schiavo testified during a 1992 medical malpractice trial that he found his wife unconscious at about 5am and said more recently it was about 4:30am.

Michael Schiavo said he ran to phone 911 immediately, that he did not know the exact time because he was not wearing a watch or looking at a clock and that he had testified to that effect consistently and repeatedly.

Through his attorney, Schiavo released a statement with excerpts from his testimony over the years, each describing the time in approximations.

The Schindlers and their supporters had suggested Terri's collapse resulted from attempted strangulation or abuse. The autopsy found no evidence of abuse or neglect but it cast doubt on the earlier conclusion an eating disorder caused a chemical imbalance that stopped her heart.

"As a result, the cause of her injuries is more in doubt than ever," Bush said in his letter to McCabe.

"In light of this new information, I urge you to take a fresh look at this case without any preconceptions as to the outcome."

Schiavo suffered massive and irreversible brain damage when her heart stopped, starving her brain of oxygen and causing it to wither to half the normal size, the autopsy said. That left her unable to think or see and capable only of reflexive movement, the autopsy said.

Michael Schiavo had long argued his wife would not have wanted to live like that and won permission to remove the feeding tube that sustained her for 15 years. Her parents argued she could improve and should be kept alive regardless of her condition, ultimately losing a long court battle despite the enactment of state and federal laws aimed at prolonging her life.

Bush pressed the Florida Legislature to pass a law in 2003 giving him authority to order Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted six days after it was removed. That law was later struck down as unconstitutional.

- REUTERS