Lawyers representing Loran Cole, scheduled for execution on Thursday, have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his death sentence. They argue that his Parkinson’s disease symptoms could lead to complications with the lethal injection procedure, causing “needless pain and suffering.”
The Florida Supreme Court recently rejected a similar appeal, but Cole’s attorneys now request that the U.S. Supreme Court send the case back to a lower court for further review.
They contend that Cole’s involuntary body movements could interfere with the placement of IV lines, a critical part of the lethal injection process.
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Cole, 57, was sentenced to death for the 1994 murder of FSU student John Edwards. His attorneys have also raised concerns about his history of abuse at the Dozier School for Boys, but these claims were dismissed by both the Circuit Court and the Florida Supreme Court.
The state, however, disputes these arguments, stating that Cole’s claims are speculative and that he waited too long to raise them. They emphasize that Cole has experienced Parkinson’s symptoms since 2017 and only brought this issue up after his death warrant was signed.
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