Convicted child killer Frank Atwood has argued that the state's death penalty procedures would violate his constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment by subjecting him to unimaginable pain.
An Arizona prisoner's bid to delay his execution was denied by a federal judge, according to the ruling posted Sunday.
Frank Atwood was convicted in the 1984 killing of an 8-year-old girl and was sentenced to death.
Vicki Lynn Hoskinson was riding her bike to mail a birthday card to her aunt in Tucson when Atwood allegedly snatched her, KPHO-TV reported.
Hoskinson's remains were found northwest of Tucson in April of the following year, but authorities were unable to determine a cause of death, according to CBS News.
Atwood’s execution is scheduled for Wednesday. Atwood has argued that the state's death penalty procedures would violate his constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment by subjecting him to unimaginable pain, CBS reported.
According to his lawyers, Atwood has a degenerative spinal condition that has left him in a wheelchair. Because of this, the lawyers argue he would experience excruciating suffering by being strapped to a gurney while lying on his back during his lethal injection execution.
U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi denied his request.
Liburdi referred to the Constitution and wrote that it,"does not require a pain-free execution," stating that Atwood's position will be similar to what he does in his cell to mitigate his pain, according to the outlet.
According to CBS, the judge said in the ruling that the state will provide Atwood with a medical wedge that will relieve pressure on his spine.
Liburdi said that the execution table can be tilted, and that these accommodations "will minimize the pain Plaintiff experiences when he lies on his back."
According to local outlet AZ Central, Atwood has the choice between death by a gas chamber and lethal injection, but death by the gas chamber would also result in a torturous amount of pain due to Arizona's use of cyanide gas.
Because of this, Atwood instead requested a gas chamber death using nitrogen, according to his lawyers.
"The state's insistence on cyanide gas is a cynical choice to force the acceptance of the danger and incompetence of its lethal injection method, at the cost of embracing Nazi methods of mass extermination," Joseph Perkovich, an attorney for Atwood, said in an email to CBS on Sunday.
According to the outlet, the judge has said that concerns around these drugs are irrelevant because Atwood will be receiving lethal injection.
The judge also found that Atwood lacked standing to challenge the state’s protocols for lethal gas, according to AZ Central.
Atwood has also made an appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court to delay his execution while his lawyers pursue claims that he is actually innocent in the 1984 case. That court initially denied a stay, but is now considering the new claim, according to CBS.
A different federal judge is overseeing an additional conflict regarding Atwood’s religious accommodations before and during his execution. The state has “mainly agreed,” but there is continued conversation about the details, according to the outlet.
According to the outlet, Atwood has maintained his stance that he is innocent.
