http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Aug...yCooey,00.html
Quote:
COLUMBUS, Ohio A death row inmate scheduled for execution says he's too fat to be put to death, claiming executioners would have trouble finding his veins and that his weight could diminish the effectiveness of one of the lethal injection drugs.
Lawyers for Richard Cooey argue in a federal lawsuit that Cooey _ 5-feet-7 and 267 pounds _ had poor veins when he faced execution five years ago and the problem has been worsened by weight gain.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court, also says prison officials have had difficulty drawing blood from Cooey for medical procedures.
Cooey, 41, is sentenced to die for raping and murdering two young women in 1986. His execution is scheduled for Oct. 14.
His attorneys say a drug he is taking for migraine headaches could affect the execution process. The drug Topamax, a type of seizure medication, may have created a resistance to thiopental, the drug used to put inmates to sleep before two other lethal drugs are administered, Dr. Mark Heath, a physician hired by the Ohio Public Defender's Office, said in documents filed with the court.
Heath says Cooey's weight, combined with the potential drug resistance, increases the risk he would not be properly anesthetized.
"All of the experts agree if the first drug doesn't work, the execution is going to be excruciating," Cooey's public defender, Kelly Culshaw Schneider, said Monday.
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I'm not sure if I understand why this is such an issue.
1) Why does it even matter if they can feel pain or not when they die? I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant or peaceful experience when the 2 girls he raped and murdered were enduring what he was doing to them.
2) If it really does matter that he is in such a state of comfort when he dies, why can't they put him on a diet and take him off those meds?
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