Florida attorneys reject halting execution of inmate over Parkinson's disease causing 'needless pain'

A Florida man sentenced to death for a 1994 rape and murder is requesting his execution be stayed, arguing that the lethal injection would cause him needless pain and suffering due to his Parkinson's symptoms. However, state attorneys say the process should continue regardless.

Loran Cole, 57, was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder of John Edwards, an 18-year-old Florida State University student. He was also convicted for robbing, raping and kidnapping Edwards' sister. Both siblings were camping in the Ocala National Forest in 1994.

Cole was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping with a weapon, two counts of robbery with a weapon and two counts of sexual battery. A jury found Cole guilty of all counts and, after a penalty phase hearing, the jury unanimously recommended the death penalty.

Cole is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 29 at 6.pm. at the Florida State Prison following Gov. Ron DeSantis' signature of his death warrant in July. But on Aug. 26, Cole appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution.

"Cole's Parkinson's symptoms will make it impossible for Florida to safely and humanely carry out his execution because his involuntary body movements will affect the placement of the intravenous lines necessary to carry out an execution by lethal injection," his attorneys argued in court filings.

Despite Cole's request, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said Cole waited too long to raise his concerns over the drug cocktail used in Florida to carry out executions. Moody argued that Cole knew of his Parkinson's disease for at least seven years but "delayed bringing any claim challenging lethal injection as applied to him until his death warrant was signed," Moody's office said in a court filing.

On Aug. 23, the Florida Supreme Court denied an appeal from Cole, who has previously argued his execution should be blocked because he suffered abuse at a state-run reform school where for decades boys were beaten, raped and killed.

According to court documents, Cole was at the Dozier reform school as a 17-year-old in 1984, when he was raped by a guard, beaten regularly and had both legs broken after trying to escape.

Cole's attorneys had argued before state justices that his lawyer in 1995 failed to present the Dozier school history as possible grounds for avoiding the death penalty, but justices said Dozier has been raised and rejected in Cole's post-conviction appeals.

Cole's execution would be Florida's first in 2024. Last year, Gov. DeSantis approved six executions, the most in a single year since 2014 (8).