Obese Ohio death row inmate asks state for mercy
WHAT?????
NPR-A death row inmate who says he’s too fat to be executed received poor legal help during his trial and later when he appealed the death sentence, his lawyers said Monday during a clemency hearing.
It’s the second time that Richard Cooey, convicted of killing two University of Akron students in 1986, has asked the state for mercy. The Ohio Parole Board denied a similar request five years ago and Cooey came within a day of being executed in 2003 before a federal judge issued a reprieve.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, his lawyers said executioners would have trouble finding Cooey’s veins and that his weight could diminish the effectiveness of one of the lethal injection drugs.
Cooey stands 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 267 pounds. His execution is scheduled for Oct. 14.