Ohio Death Row Inmate To Get Pillow To Help Breathe During Execution

Ohio’s prisons agency will provide a wedge-shaped pillow to help a condemned inmate breathe during his execution, which is scheduled this week, reports said Monday.

Death row prisoner Alva Campbell, who has said he is too ill for lethal injection, became mildly agitated when officials tried lowering him to a normal execution position, which is lying on his back, during a medical examination last month, according to a review by a physician contractor for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Therefore, the department plans to provide a pillow to Campbell on Wednesday, citing the breathing issues he could experience while lying flat.

Dr. James McWeeney, a prison doctor, also mentioned there were no objective findings like increased pulse rate or breathing to corroborate Campbell's anxiety. However, McWeeney recommended Campbell should be allowed to lie "in a semi-recumbent position" during his execution.

His exam last month also failed to find suitable veins for inserting an IV on either of Campbell's arms. The prisoner's attorneys have warned the man's death could become a "spectacle" if guards are unable to find suitable veins in the sick inmate's arms, while he is being put to death.

Prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith told CBS News the agency has been assessing the inmate's condition in order to identify necessary accommodations. Smith said Monday that Campbell's "medical condition and history are being assessed and considered in order to identify any necessary accommodations or contingencies for his execution."

Campbell, 69, has severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder as he had the habit of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day for almost 10 years, the prison's doctor said.

The prisoner's attorneys mentioned he uses a walker, relies on a colostomy bag, requires at least four breathing treatments a day and might have lung cancer. They had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his scheduled execution Wednesday because of his poor medical condition, a motion which has been opposed by the state, according to the Associated Press.

Last week, Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich rejected mercy for Campbell, the Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors, however, claimed his alleged ailments seem to be ironic given the fact that he faked paralysis in order to escape court custody the day he had killed a teenager during a carjacking.

Campbell was paroled in 1992 after he had served 20 years for killing a man in a Cleveland bar. However, on April 2, 1997, Campbell was in a wheelchair when he overpowered a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy on his way to a court hearing for several armed robbery charges, his court records show.

Campbell allegedly snatched the deputy’s gun, carjacked 18-year-old Charles Dials and drove around with him for several hours. Following this, Campbell shot Dials twice in the head as the teenager was said to have been crouching in the footwell of his own truck.

Franklin County prosecutor Ron O'Brien calls Campbell "the poster child for the death penalty."