[OntarioVanMan]

ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS

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.

Convicted murderer Richard Cooey is on Ohio's death row, but he contends he's too fat to execute. At 5-foot-7 and 267 pounds, Cooey says the executioners would have trouble finding his veins to administer a lethal injection.

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.

How did he get so fat?? Prison food must be that good...

[Dreamer]

LOL... bull crap . I'm a heck of a lot bigger than that dude, and them stupid torturers... er.. nurses... seem to have no trouble poking holes in my veins.. .

Now as for the meds, I have no clue, but weighing a paltry 265 is not reason that it would be painful to have an IV.


Dale

[OntarioVanMan]

Guess this guy is real scared to die and is grasping at straws...But I am afraid with all the liberal thinkers he might pull this on off....

Too bad he didn't think of being scared like his victims....bet their death wasn't painless....so what if he goes outch before he croocks!!

[LDB]

Too stinking bad!!! If the injection won't work I've got an extra 9mm round I can put in his head.

[OntarioVanMan]

Originally Posted by LDB

Too stinking bad!!! If the injection won't work I've got an extra 9mm round I can put in his head.

Hey Leo...don't hold back now...say what you mean....*LOL*

[aristotle]

Send 'em down here to Kentucky. We execute 'em real good. Our method just upheld by US Supreme Court last month. Don't need much advance notice.

[OntarioVanMan]

Originally Posted by aristotle

Send 'em down here to Kentucky. We execute 'em real good. Our method just upheld by US Supreme Court last month. Don't need much advance notice.

Maybe the prison system can sub-contract the work and make a few bucks? Like an ad....we have a fresh one, we'll pay 20,000 bucks to the first hand!!!

[LDB]

Very simple really, so easy to tell it like it is. Pretty much all of life is crystal clear or black and white, whichever you prefer. I don't mind telling it like it is.

[OntarioVanMan]

Hey it's Ohio..they'll nail your butt for 58 in a 55 but this scum bag will prolly skate to a life sentence. The priorties are all messed up....

[spudhead911]

How about using a firing squad. A nice 45/70 in the old coconut will do the trick. and pretty much painless too.

[hdxpedx]

TEXAS killed that mex. puck that killed those young girls in '93.. FAT BOY your next!! Offer him Komodo Dragon saliva..IT'S all natural and comes in a variety of FAVORS!!

[OntarioVanMan]

Originally Posted by hdxpedx

TEXAS killed that mex. puck that killed those young girls in '93.. FAT BOY your next!! Offer him Komodo Dragon saliva..IT'S all natural and comes in a variety of FAVORS!!

you have a way with words....*L*

Good for Texas.....

these murderers cause all kind of pain on the victims...rape torture, stabbing, sodomy...and yet they get a painfree death? Some worry they might go outch? Somethings not right.

[arkjarhead]

If you ask me that's why God created tall oak trees, rope making fibers, and horses.

[layoutshooter]

Don't have to waste the large callibere stuff to do that job. A well placed .22 will do it just fine. Or maybe several poorly placed shots over a week or two............ Layoutshooter

[cheri1122]

I'm not in favor of the death penalty, (would like to see offenders sentenced to actual life behind bars, instead, and given a choice between working to pay for their upkeep, or being given the bare minimum necessary to sustain their 'life') but if the state is going to do it, in this case I'd suggest:
1: the man says he's too fat - put him on an extremely low calorie diet.
2: If his migraine meds might interfere with the lethal injection, stop giving them to him.
Problems solved.

I think the taxpayers who are supporting the burden, are the real victims of "cruel & unusual punishment.