August 17, 2008

Too Fat to Execute? Ohio's Capital Punishment Dilemma

By Henry P. Wickham, Jr.
An adage has it that one can never be too thin or too rich, and this adage is now being tested.  Richard Cooey, a convicted double murderer, currently on Ohio's Death Row, seeks to prove that there are times when one cannot be too fat.  Cooey, through the Ohio Public Defenders' Office, seeks to enjoin his October 14, 2008 execution date on the grounds that (1) he may be too fat to be executed by lethal injection, and (2) his migraine medications may interfere with the anesthetic component of the lethal injection.Before considering these arguments, readers should be aware of Cooey's crimes.  In 1986 (yes, it has been that long) Cooey and a companion went to an overpass over Interstate Route 77 in Ohio.  He dropped a piece of concrete onto the car of Wendy Offredo and Dawn McCreedy passing beneath them, disabling their car.  He and his companion then offered them a ride to a pay phone.  They took the women to a remote area where they beat, raped, and robbed...(Read Full Article)