Too large to be executed??

"COLUMBUS, Ohio — A death row inmate scheduled for execution in October says he's so fat that Ohio 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 had poor veins when he faced execution five years ago and that the problem has been worsened by weight gain.

Cooey, 41, was sentenced to die for raping and murdering two female University of Akron students in 1986. After a federal judge granted Cooey a last-minute reprieve in 2003, Cooey was returned to death row. In April, he lost a challenge to Ohio's lethal injection process when the U.S. Supreme Court said he had missed a deadline to file a lawsuit."



I found this on FoxNews.com. I cannot believe that person, who is on death row for raping and murdering two women might actually have a chance to evade execution! I am so sick of hearing of lethal injection being "creul and unusual punishment". What about the people that were hurt by the hands of these monsters that are on death row?

give him 4 injections that should cover it

The whole lethal injection process is so messed up. Three different drugs etc..though finding a vein often is a big problem. Sometimes they can find one vein, but since some states require that a second iv be in place they cut for an hour trying to find the second one.

They could just use a mask to knock them out and then inject directly into the heart. I just can't fathom why they make it so overly complicated.

On second thought though, I bet it would be pretty unpleasant for the guys that have to cut and find a vein. I listened to a bunch of execution tapes a while back, electrocutions in Georgia, and it was a bit eerie because the prisoners had been on death row for a LONG time and gotten to know the guards and warden well.

Hacking though mounds of thick yellow fat in order to find a vein and having the condemned strapped down whining the whole time, possibly for an hour or more, really would not be fun for the guys that had to do it, especially if the guys doing it worked in the prison hospital or were familiar with the condemned. It would be a nasty job. They don't make that much money, and I really doubt if they would enjoy it. Perhaps the relatives of the girls would but not the prison employees.

Why dont they give him a little hard labor? im sure he would be fit and well in no time, give him a huge boulder, and ask politely for him to make the gravel for the governors drive way, make him mr slim in a week or two.

He's in prison... what are they feeding him to make him gain so much weight?

Do they have candy bar vending machines there or what?

If the guy has Michelin Tire Man arms, can they not head for the groin or neck area instead?

Lets see..

1 bullet, 4 bucks..
1 handgun 300 or so bucks..
1 far person on death row who got out of it got getting fat.. = something like 150,000 bucks
=
Priceless

[edit on 8/4/2008 by ThichHeaded]

Originally posted by Ceara
He's in prison... what are they feeding him to make him gain so much weight?

Do they have candy bar vending machines there or what?

If the guy has Michelin Tire Man arms, can they not head for the groin or neck area instead?

That's what I'm trying to figure out, if the problem is he is overweight do like the Army and put his ass on half-rations except for the night before his execution where he gets his choice dinner whatever

I can't believe it.

It's the "I'm too fat" defense!!!!!

The blood sucking lawyers are gonna love this!! Another chance for an appeal. (and another fee for the damn lawyer)

How in the hell can you stay so obese in prison???

Another thought is why they don't transfer this scum bag to a prison that uses poison gas instead of injection. The same day that he arrives, he gets gassed. Enough money wasted on this clown.

Originally posted by wolf241e
I can't believe it.

It's the "I'm too fat" defense!!!!!

The blood sucking lawyers are gonna love this!! Another chance for an appeal. (and another fee for the damn lawyer)

How in the hell can you stay so obese in prison???

Another thought is why they don't transfer this scum bag to a prison that uses poison gas instead of injection. The same day that he arrives, he gets gassed. Enough money wasted on this clown.

Agreed, Arizona, California, Maryland, Missouri, and Wyoming all still have Gas Chambers but offer Lethal Injection instead as a courtesy. I say if he can't be put to death through Lethal Injection then they should give him an ultimatum of several months or so before being forced into a Gas Chamber.

Lethal Injection is done by IV anyways...IV's can be given in the hands, feet or really anywhere you can find a vein. Even Fat people have available veins in their hands or feet....In Fact, I've even had to give IV's to obese people, it's a pain, but it's certainly possible - No hacking of the flesh required!

Oh, and don't blame the prison food system....Sometimes the prisoners are unwillingly "pumped" full of nutrients...

[edit on 5-8-2008 by Nevets95]

Give the guy a poison cheeseburger instead..

This is why states should always maintain firing squad as a second option for execution.


You are never too fat to be shot

Sounds like we should put him on a chain gang.
I doubt his weight will stay on long swinging that pick axe.

If that doesn't work..... someone should buy him Sweatin to the Oldies.

Originally posted by Nevets95 I've even had to give IV's to obese people, it's a pain, but it's certainly possible - No hacking of the flesh required!

A lot of them were IV drug users and it appears finding good vein IS a problem pretty frequently, there are several cases in which it took 30 minutes to an hour to find a useable vein. In addition to that the vein can collapse halfway through and then the condemned can have reactions and take a long time to die.

If they used barbituates (like vets do) they would not have nearly so many long drawn out deaths, but instead they use that weird 3 drug combo. It makes no sense, perhaps the gov wants it to be bad so people will protest more.

reply to post by Sonya610


Yes you are right.

Long ago I took a course at the local college for Phlebotomy, basically drawing blood from people for medical tests. I never did it as an actual job because I didn't like the hospital experience.

Anyway there was also a drug clinic on site and we headed over there one day. I was to draw blood from an injection drug user and we (me and my on-site instructor) tried 4 times on our own to get a good vein and nothing worked. We told her we were going to have to go for the feet. I guess it hurts worse than a regular needle stick in the arm. *shrugs* She became angry, of course, and said something like, "look I have one vein I saved for special purposes. Give me the needle and I'll do it myself."

Well ok! She certainly knows how to use a needle so we let her go at it and sure enough she did a great job.

I agree with several posts above, you can't be too fat to get a bullet in the back of the head.

I never understood humane execution of scumbags like this.

Now here's a new twist! Just make sure you eat McDonalds every meal after you rape and murder people and you'll be given amnesty. Yeah!
So they can't find the veins in his overly fat laden arms? Boo hoo. I'm crying.
Well since they can't find his veins, just get a couple marksmen with high caliber weapons to make it quick. You don't need to find a vein with a good head shot.
This type of news disgusts me.

I give iv injections pretty much all day in my job.
When I get the prisoners with scarred up arms, I just switch tactics and look in places the user cannot easily reach. I would N E V E R allow a prisoner/drug addict a needle. First off, they usually have some sort of hepatitis or something of that nature and I wouldn't trust the fool to be careful near me.More than once I had to refuse the offer from them for iv assistance. Also, the state would absolutely flip out over that.

Back on topic
Why not just use the neck? There is not nearly as much fat to miss a carotid or jugular. Or just let a county physician put in a sub-clavian line under the skin. It doesn't take long at all.

side note, I always laugh when I see in movies where they clean the injection site before starting. Don't want an infection now do we.

I share the view that a bullet doesn't care how fat you are.

A nice round to the back of the head isn't going to judge, it's going to make a brain painting now matter what. Drag this fat degenerate out of his cell, put him up against the wall and shoot him.

Not really that hard is it?