Judge rejects Arizona prisoner’s bid to delay execution

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - A federal judge has denied an Arizona prisoner’s bid to delay his execution in the 1984 killing of an 8-year-old girl.

A U.S. District Judge's decision keeps Wednesday’s scheduled execution of Frank Atwood on track - who argued the state’s death penalty procedures would violate his constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment by subjecting him to unimaginable pain.

Atwood's lawyers argued he has a degenerative spinal condition that has left him in a wheelchair and would undergo excruciating suffering if he were strapped to a gurney while lying on his back during his lethal injection execution.

In the ruling, the judge said that he would not block the execution based on Atwood’s claim, noting that the state will provide Atwood with a medical wedge that will relieve pressure on his spine and can also tilt the execution table.

Atwood is set to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday.