Controlling the Autopsy With A Thought?

The prominent euthanasia attorney and author, George Felos, is well [self-]publicized for having the power to control with his thoughts. Well, he gave it a try Monday evening. Via the AP (via Michelle):

George Felos ... said that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County, Dr. [Jon] Thogmartin, had agreed to perform an autopsy on Schiavo. He said that her husband wants proof of the extent of her brain damage.

No, her husband still wants to cremate the body. This poster on BlogsForTerri reminds us:

It is a Florida law that says an autopsy must be done if the body is to be cremated! How thoughtful of them.

Well, thank goodness for due process. But don't get your hopes up. Anything that can "go wrong", will "go wrong". The notion that the husband wanted a thorough, professional, criminal autopsy is absurd, ditto for his lawyer, and what would recently have changed their minds? (Obviously, comments such as "When's that bitch gonna die?" from the good husband leaking out into the public.) If he really wanted that kind of autopsy, the attorney wouldn't have had to dodge questions he didn't want to field, such as:

Reporter: "Will there be full a body scan for her supposed broken bones?"
Felos: "You're watching too much CSI!" [he laughs]

No, we're hearing too many of your nurses testifying under oath. The code of silence has already begun to unravel. (You didn't control that with a thought, did you?) And haven't we already said this is a case for CSI Tampa, not euthanasia court? With that comment, thankfully the press have picked up the scent once more. We almost lost you there for a minute, George.

Let's recap what we know:

1. The husband has abused (and was alleged to have tried murdering) his wife after she was hospitalized. And now there is reason to suspect he caused the brain damage deliberately, of all horrors. I guess perhaps he wasn't hoping for a complete recovery after all. (I'll revisit item #2 on this post here, obviously.)


2. The bone scans that reveal the devastating bone injuries suffered by Terri in many parts of the body were done in 1991. It's 2005. If Michael has been abusing her, it stands to reason that many more bones have piled up in his closet in the meantime. And that just focuses on one specific type of problem; the question for a proper autopsy should be, what are all of the various injuries (from 1990 until now) likely to be?


3. The 1996 CT Scan that indicated late-stage cortical atrophy is likely to be a hoax and cannot possibly be her brain scan, unless she is a medical miracle - a Stage 3 patient with a Stage 1 brain scan. So it stands to reason the other side will move mountains in order to minimize the useful detail that emerges, and to minimize or dispute the consequences of any inconsistencies found.


4. The troika has used due process to avoid due consequences before. Their prime facilitator is the good Judge Greer. It wouldn't be surprising if a favor's been called in already (whether it's necessary to actually pick up the phone anymore is another question). What's not clear is exactly what favor would be needed:
   
   
   • The life insurance company may not receive the scope, quantity or level of detail they need in order to rule effectively. (Ed: Can the judge seal the autopsy report?) Yet they may not be able to deny the claim because the judge declares the death "natural" by fiat and provides the Schiavos with the support they need to sue for collection - and win. Fraud is a distinct possibility here. We know it happens every day and less than half of all cases are ever discovered (let alone prosecuted). So the insurance company may be bullied into paying up and may already realize it's coming. (Let's hope I'm wrong.)
   
   
   • Though the state of Florida requires an autopsy before a body is cremated, it may be more a formality than a true body of work.
   
   
   • It is not clear who controls the show at the M.E.'s office. Unless the press establishes beforehand where the weak links are, it may be difficult or impossible to predict exactly what they have planned - especially if the judge seals it afterward. (No autopsy report, nothing to contest: "Death with dignity.")
   
   

So: We know these people already. They clearly haven't changed overnight. Given what we know (or think we know, or don't know) we have to assume that Michael Schiavo has everything to lose - and nothing to gain - by having an honest autopsy performed. His lawyer's press conference will set off alarm bells for anyone really following this case, but for the moment, it may have succeeded in deflating the risk they were facing from the crowds. So they thought.

With a "thought", George Felos has just controlled the suppressed outrage and anger of millions of people all over the world by saying a few words in front of the cameras. But it wasn't his "thought" that cowed the crowd; it was his promise. If he breaks it, he's bought it. The crowd will hold him accountable. Peacefully.