A federal judge ruled against an Arizona death-row inmate’s request to have his execution delayed on the notion that he would feel excruciating pain.
Judge Michael Liburdi of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona ruled on Sunday against Frank Atwood, 66, who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday. Atwood’s lawyers attempted to challenge the execution, arguing the state’s death penalty methods breach Atwood’s constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment.
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Atwood suffers from a degenerative spinal condition that requires him to use a wheelchair. If forced to undergo lethal injection, he would be strapped to a gurney and put through excruciating pain due to him being forced to lay down, according to the Associated Press. Liburdi rejected this argument, saying the state would provide Atwood with a medical wedge that would relieve the pressure and offer accommodations to minimize the pain. The Constitution “does not require a pain-free execution,” Liburdi ruled.
The judge also rejected challenges to the drug used in the execution and the state’s use of the gas chamber in the past, even though Atwood is sentenced to die by lethal injection.
The pain appeal is one of several filed by Atwood’s lawyers in an attempt to stop or delay his scheduled execution. The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency unanimously rejected Atwood’s request on May 24 after the team attempted to pause it while seeking leads on whether Atwood was innocent. He has also asked that Arizona’s Supreme Court delay his execution.
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Atwood was arrested in 1984 after the kidnapping of 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson from Pima County. Hoskinson’s remains were found a month after the arrest, and he was indicted on charges of first-degree murder. Experts were unable to determine the cause of death based on the remains, according to court documents. Atwood has maintained that he is innocent.
Atwood would be the second person executed by Arizona in the last two months. The state executed Clarence Wayne Dixon on May 11, the first man executed by Arizona via lethal injection in nearly eight years.
