Death row inmate argues he is too fat to be executed humanely

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A man on death row in Ohio is suing the state on grounds that due to his obesity he would suffer unduly during lethal injection, the Ohio Attorney General's office said Tuesday.

"He will argue that he is so overweight that he has poor veins, and his attorneys are questioning whether or not a lethal injection will be sufficient to cause death," Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General, told AFP.

Richard Cooey, 41, was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder and rape of two female college students. His execution, delayed once before in 2003, is scheduled for October 14.

At 1.73 meters (5 feet 7 inches tall), Cooey weighed 125 kilograms (275 pounds) in May and has gained weight since, prison officials told The Columbus Dispatch....