FILE - This undated photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows death row inmate Alva Campbell. The Ohio Parole Board on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, rejected a request for mercy from Campbell, a condemned inmate who argues he had such a bad childhood and is in such poor health that he should be spared from execution next month. The board's 11-1 decision came in the case of Campbell, set to die by lethal injection on Nov. 15 for killing a teen during a 1997 carjacking. The slaying came five years after he was paroled on a different murder charge. (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction via AP)
November 08, 2017 - 10:06 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A condemned Ohio killer who argues he is too ill to execute has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay his upcoming execution.
Attorneys for death row inmate Alva Campbell say his breathing problems and poor veins will create a spectacle when lethal injection is attempted.
They also argue he was regularly beaten, sexually abused and tortured as a child. Attorneys late last week asked the high court to stop Campbell's Nov. 15 execution.
The state was expected to oppose the request.
Court documents indicate Ohio's prisons system may provide a wedge-shaped pillow to elevate Campbell and facilitate his breathing during the execution.
Prosecutors said Campbell's health claims are ironic given he faked paralysis to escape court custody the day he killed 18-year-old Charles Dials in 1997.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017