WASHINGTON, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Lawyers of a U.S. prisoner currently on death row have filed an appeal to postpone the execution on the grounds that the defendant is too fat to be executed humanely, local media reported on Tuesday.
Richard Cooey, sentenced to death in 2003 for double rape and murder, claims that a lethal injection will be painful as his veins are difficult to find.
In addition, Cooey said a drug that he takes for migraine will react badly with the initial anaesthetizing injection causing him "unnecessary pain."
Cooey's execution is scheduled for October 14 in Ohio. The 41-year-old man is some 1.7 meters (5 foot 7 inches) tall and weighs over 120 kg (275 lbs).
Lethal injection is the only form of execution allowed by Ohio law.
