Ohio Inmate Says He's Too Fat to Execute

[Anakin Flair]

Just saw this on AOL, and I had to share:

 

Ohio Inmate Says He's Too Fat to Execute

ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS, AP

posted: 1 HOUR 38 MINUTES AGO

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Aug. 4) - 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.

Prison system spokeswoman Andrea Carson and Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office, both said Monday they hadn't seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment.

Last year, Carson cited the obesity of condemned inmate Christopher Newton as one of the reasons prison officials had difficulty accessing his veins before his execution. Newton was 6 feet tall and weighed 265 pounds.

Two years ago, convicted killer Jeffrey Lundgren was put to death after a federal appeals court rejected his claim that he was at greater risk of experiencing pain and suffering because he was overweight and diabetic.

 

Fuck this guy, rapists deserve to feel pain. And for kicks, his last meal should be a Lean Cuisine.

 

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS!]

Use a higher dosage. Problem solved.

 

It really sounds like he's truly afraid of being executed, which makes it all the more appealing. I like it when obese criminals sob and shit.

[Perfxion]

take him off the other meds, problem solved.

[EricMM]

I don't understand why not have a double shotgun blast to the back of the head.

 

He wouldn't survive that. Would he even feel anything!?

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Fucking Eric of all people takes my answer. Good god.

[Dobbs 3K]

I take it they don't use a firing squad in that state. That would solve the problem, too.

[Guest Smues]

Others beat me to it but yes bullet + brain = problem solved.

[Maztinho]

Utah has the firing squad. Go us.

 

And I agree just take him off the meds that cause the immunity to the sleeping drug.

[Ravenbomb]

Isn't injecting someone with air lethal? Why do we need to be spending money on lethal drugs and needles when there could be just ONE needle with nothing in it?

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS!]

Stabbing doesn't cost anything either.

[bob_barron]

Rehabilitation is the way to go, guys.

[MFer]

Just put his fat ass on a treadmill until he loses the weight.

[Red Baron]

The guy only ways 267 pounds. I mean he's round, but not fucking obese.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS!]

The guy only ways 267 pounds. I mean he's round, but not fucking obese.

 

Did we mention that he's 5'7"?

[Chui]

Have an even fatter person rape him, then kill him. I believe the punishment should fit the crime.

[Guest Smues]

Cooey, 41, is sentenced to die for raping and murdering two young women in 1986

 

And I'm supposed to care that he might not go PAINLESSLY? I'm not advocating torturing people to death, but I don't see why we get so worried about people suffering a little when given the DEATH penalty. It's ok that people get beat up and raped in prison when just sentenced to some time in prison, but any pain before being killed is a no-no?

[migoli]

Utah has the firing squad. Go us.

 

And I agree just take him off the meds that cause the immunity to the sleeping drug.

 

 

Really, has it been used recently?

[Matt Young]

Wikipedia:

 

"In Utah, the firing squad consisted of five volunteer police officers from the county in which the conviction of the offender took place. A law passed on March 15, 2004 banned execution by firing squad in Utah, but since that specific law was not retroactive, four inmates on Utah's death row could still have their last requests granted. As of 2006, Idaho and Oklahoma are the only other states in which execution by firing squad is legally available (as backup methods only; both states use lethal injection as their primary methods of execution)."

[Maztinho]

Awww... we banned it? Booooo.

 

Stupid hippies moving in and screwing up our awesome firing squad.

 

The premise was kinda cool though, we had a corrections officer explain it to us during one of those "Scared Straight" thingies that got way off topic.

 

All the officers have to be considered marksmen, and only one of them actually has the bullet, the rest fire blanks so they don't know who actually killed the guy.

[Matt Young]

I thought it was one shooter had blanks and the others didn't.

[Jingus]

Yeah, marksman or not, a single shot is unlikely to cause any immediately fatal wound. No matter what the movies taught us, just one bullet doesn't have a real high chance of instantly killing someone.

 

Also, does Ohio not use any other forms of execution other than lethal injection? I know that changing the dosages and/or specific drugs used in the execution would probably require a veritable nightmare of bureaucratic red tape. But does the state not allow the gas chamber, electric chair, or hell even a good ol' fashioned hanging? With a guy this heavy, the noose might decapitate him, which is always a bonus.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

because they're inhumane and would only cause huge protests and BS.

[Guest Vitamin X]

This reminds me that Jingus is from Texas.

[bob_barron]

Because they're inhumane and would only cause huge protests and BS.

 

I've heard that a lethal injection can be pretty messed up as well.

 

The firing squad does sound pretty badass, I'd love to see that brought back.

I don't think Jingus is from Texas, I think he just lives there.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Yeah if they fuck up the mixture what can happen is the guy feels the pain but is unable to move at all.

[MarvinisaLunatic]

How the hell does he weigh that much after 20 years of prison food?

 

And my death penalty based on this.. feed them til they explode. How could eating be cruel and unusual punishment? Here, have some chocolate cake...theres 500 more where that one came from..

[Maztinho]

You might be right Matt. I was honestly paying more attention to the girl who was wearing a lowcut blouse next to me than paying a whole lot of attention and this was like 15 years ago. I know blanks are involved.

 

I know that Washington had hanging as an option back in the 90's because some child-rapist-murderer chose that method because it would likely be the worst for him.

[RavishingRickRudo]

had poor veins when he faced execution five years ago and the problem has been worsened by weight gain.

 

How do you gain weight in prison?

[Lord of The Curry]

Depends on how often he visits the showers and how much semen weighs.

[Copper Feel]