Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody argued Tuesday that the execution of an inmate with Parkinson's disease should not be delayed because an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the state's lethal injection procedure was filed too late.
Moody said Laurent Cole, 57, waited too long to raise concerns that the drug combination was “very likely to cause unnecessary pain and suffering” because of his Parkinson's disease symptoms.
“Mr. Cole knew for at least seven years that he suffered from the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but he delayed filing a lawsuit challenging the lethal injection administered to him until after his death warrant was signed, and there was nothing to prevent him from doing so,” Moody's office said in court documents on Tuesday.
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Loran K. Cole, 57, was convicted of abducting two adult siblings while they were camping in a national forest in 1994, then raping the sister and killing the brother. (Florida Department of Corrections via The Associated Press)
The execution is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Florida State Prison, after Governor Ron DeSantis signed Cole's death warrant in July.
He was convicted of kidnapping two adult siblings while they were camping in Ocala National Forest in 1994, raping the sister and killing the brother.
Cole has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to request a stay of the execution, arguing that the denial of a hearing violates his due process and equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said Loran Cole waited too long to raise concerns that the drug combination “was likely to cause unnecessary pain and suffering” because of his Parkinson's disease symptoms. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Mr. Cole's Parkinson's disease makes it impossible for the State of Florida to safely and humanely carry out his execution because his involuntary bodily movements would affect the placement of the intravenous line necessary to carry out execution by lethal injection,” his lawyers said in court documents.
Many of Florida's execution procedures are kept off the public record. Failed executions in other states, including neighboring Alabama, have raised concerns about the secrecy of the death penalty and its procedures. State officials have also struggled to obtain lethal injection drugs and the staff needed to administer them.
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Laurent Cole's execution is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. (AP Photo/Sue Oglocki, File)
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Last week, the Florida Supreme Court rejected Cole's appeal.
Cole also argues his execution should be stayed because he was abused for decades in a state juvenile detention center where boys were beaten, raped and murdered.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
