February 11, 2009 2:12 PM
- Text
Ohio Inmate Not Too Fat For Death Penalty
(AP)
The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected arguments that a death row inmate is too fat to die by lethal injection.
Justices on Thursday gave the go-ahead to execute Richard Cooey.
The 41-year-old is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for killing two University of Akron students in 1986.
He would be the first person to be put to death in the state since the end of a de facto moratorium on lethal injection.
Cooey's attorneys had argued that prison food and limited opportunities to exercise contributed to a weight problem that would make it difficult for the execution team to find a viable vein for lethal injection.
Cooey is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 267 pounds.
An appeal is still pending.
Justices on Thursday gave the go-ahead to execute Richard Cooey.
The 41-year-old is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for killing two University of Akron students in 1986.
He would be the first person to be put to death in the state since the end of a de facto moratorium on lethal injection.
Cooey's attorneys had argued that prison food and limited opportunities to exercise contributed to a weight problem that would make it difficult for the execution team to find a viable vein for lethal injection.
Cooey is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 267 pounds.
An appeal is still pending.
Latest Now in National
- Whitney Houston's daughter taken in ambulance
- NJ man who shot off-duty officer must pay $5.9M
- Autopsy on Whitney Houston to begin Sunday
- Experts: Stanford's trial not won with 1 witness
- Drillers cut natural gas production as prices drop
- Man charged in plot to kill Utah governor
- Nature: Bobcats riding out the snow
- US seeks to mine social media to predict future
- RI player wins $336 million Powerball jackpot
- How the revolution became digitized
- Celebs mourn Whitney Houston at Clive Davis event
- The nation's weather
- Whitney Houston fans pay emotional tribute
- Hudson to honor Houston at Grammys
- Man to face Alabama trial in wife's diving death
- Whitney Houston's final performance
- Remembering Whitney Houston 1963-2012
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News
- Bryant hits game-winner, Lakers edge Raptors 94-92
- Boeing says it's frustrated with Dreamliner glitch
- Crown Princess departs after norovirus outbreak
- Southwest NH visual arts tour added to itineraries
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News






