OHIO----impending execution

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on upheld a lower court decision
dismissing Cooey's claim that lethal injection as conducted in Ohio would
not be quick and painless and therefore violate his rights.

The U.S. District Court in Columbus ruled that the challenge was not
raised soon enough and the appeals court agreed.

Amy Borror, spokeswoman, with the Office of the Public Defender, which
represents Cooey, said an appeal is expected to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 41-year-old is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday for killing 2
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 began last year.

Cooey has never denied participating in the rape, beating and
strangulation of Dawn McCreery and Wendy Jo Offredo near Akron but blames
his accomplice for delivering the fatal blows.

Clinton Dickens, who was 17 at the time and cooperative with police,
according to authorities, was also convicted for the murders and is
serving life in prison.

McCreery and Offredo were abducted on Sept. 1, 1986, shortly after
midnight, soon after they left work in Akron. Cooey and Dickens had
dropped a piece of cement from an overpass onto the women's car as they
drove along a highway. The men then pretended to help the women before
eventually killing them.

(source: Plain Dealer)

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