Posted on 6/19/2005, 7:52:39 PM by Terriergal
Mother Battles Daughter-In-Law For Son's Guardianship
POSTED: 6:54 pm EDT June 17, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 34-year-old Jacksonville man is at the center of a legal tug of war between his wife and mother. Scott Thomas suffered severe brain damage in September 2004 and has been in and out of the hospital ever since. For months, there has been a question of who should be in charge of his care. On Friday, that question was partially answered.
Scott Thomas Thomas requires a feeding tube to survive and needs constant medical supervision. His mother, Pamela Patton, is her son's legal guardian. But court papers obtained by Channel 4 reveal that Patton may end up sharing that guardianship with Thomas' wife, Liza.
Patton is afraid that if her son's condition ever worsened and he no longer remained responsive, the feeding tube might become an issue. Thomas does not have a living will.
"We hadn't really thought about it," Patton said. "At this point, we want him to recover more so he can start making more of his own decisions."
Pamela Patton Liza Thomas' attorney told Channel 4's Victoria Warren that, at one point, his client did look into hospice care for her spouse, but never wanted the feeding tube removed. He said both sides agreed that Patton would always play a role in decisions about Thomas. The only thing that is preventing co-guardianship, however, is figuring out how Thomas was injured.
"The homicide team is doing an investigation into this," Randall Terry with the Society for Truth and Justice said Friday at a news conference.
His organization has teamed up with Patton, who requested that the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office investigate whether or not Thomas' wife played a role in his injury, according to the state attorney's office.
JSO officials confirmed that they are looking into those claims, but have not drawn any conclusions at this time. According to Liza Thomas' attorney, Scott Thomas was hurt in an accidental fall. When the incident occurred, there were no questions of criminal behavior.
Patton said she hopes there comes a day when both families can put this incident behind them and allow Thomas to return to being a father to his infant son.
"We're looking forward to (seeing) him with his son," Patton said.
Here we have another Schiavo case in the making...
What this article doesn't mention, what I have read elsewhere and remember, is that Scott Thomas was at some point able to communicate to his mother that his wife had caused his injury and he did NOT want her near him. Perhaps that is how they succeeded in getting his mother to be his guardian (he was able to convey his wishes and consent). Or else by law, it would be only his wife in charge.
"Patton said she hopes there comes a day when both families can put this incident behind them ..."
That's going to be a little rough to do when she's requested they investigate his wife for possible attempted murder...
"His organization has teamed up with Patton, who requested that the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office investigate whether or not Thomas' wife played a role in his injury,..."
Yeah, ya think!!!
Interesting. Like I said, Schiavo all over again... and since he's a white male you can bet he'll get less sympathy than Terri did.
Oh yeah I remember that too.
Scott Thomas suffered severe brain damage...FROM???? Don't these people know how to investigate? They can find stuff that isn't there when it's a conservative/Christian being blamed... what's with that?
Interesting.
Cognizant Jacksonville Man in Life and Death Tug-of-War
Forensics Could Play Role In Jacksonville Guardianship Case
Guardianship Hearing of Jacksonville Man Postponed
Police Probe Open in Jacksonville Feeding Tube Case
Schiavo Foundation Urges Wife of Disabled Jacksonville Man to Err on the Side of Life 5/14/2005
Case Similar to Terri Schiavo's Has Wife Deciding Her Husband's Fate Email this article 5 16/2005
Case Similar to Terri Schiavo's Has Wife Deciding Her Husband's Fate Email this article 5/16/2005
Scott Thomas: Mother Fights for Custody, Wife Fights to Remove Feeding Tube 5/17/2005
Meet the Man in Middle of the Alleged Feeding Tube Fight 5/18/2005
ping to latest article on Scott Thomas...
(using Ohioan From Florida's Terri ping list---you may request to be added or removed at any time)
Thanks for the ping!
Want to get away with murdering your spouse?
Step 1) Move to Florida.
Step 2) Don't actually KILL the person outright, just damage them just enough to brain damaged. Even if they finger you in the crime, noone will pay them attention because in Florida disabled people mean no more than a lump on a log.
Step 3) Find a good 'right to die' attorney and convince a judge that they 'wouldn't want to live like that'. No, no witnesses necessary, just casually recall a conversation you had a decade or so ago.
So far this has/is worked(ing) twice. Let's go three?
P.S. I refuse to listen to Neal Boortz because of this issue. Not that he cares and there will be plenty of people who still do. But the fact that he wants government out of lives, but is perfectly ok with letting the government allow a human to be killed... He's an idiot.
Ah thanks!!
I can't imagine going through another Schiavo fiasco. Can you?
And how terrible is it that they defend what was done to Terri by saying "it happens all the time..."
yeah I hear ya regarding people like Boortz. The government IS in their lives, taking their lives away! How can he ignore that?
I expect the same people who wanted Terri killed will show up here wanting Scott killed. There will be the usual arguments about it being a personal family matter that his family should stay out of, and the government shouldn't have the power to protect the lives of citizens but they should have the power to kill them, blah, blah, blah.
WOW! I am surprised they haven't shown up yet....must be too busy gathering and collecting facts for their website about Terri. Anything to make themselves feel better.....
I will pray for this family....hopefully his mother won't have to watch as he is slowly starved to death.
>>>There will be the usual arguments about it being a personal family matter that his family should stay out of>>>
Why is it that the only 'family' that MATTERS is the 'family' that wants them dead?
I'll continue praying for them also. As well as all the other people (known and unknown to us) who are killed every day. And I pray for the souls of those who think those murders are a good thing.
I think it has something to do with the patients being so worthless that they should hate themselves as much as the advocates for forced euthanasia hate them. So any "real" family would honor their wishes to be tortured to death.
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