BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Chinese medianet) -- A death row inmate in
the United States says he is too fat to be executed.
Lawyers for Richard Cooey in a federal lawsuit argue that because Cooey is 5-feet-7 and 267 pounds, executioners would find it difficult to locate his veins and his weight could diminish
the effectiveness of one of the lethal injection drugs.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court,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.
(Agencies)
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