Mara Delaney’s lawyers have filed a petition with the governor’s office claiming that their client is “too healthy” to face the electric chair. In their petition, they claim that their client’s irregularly “healthy” heart will take “an undue amount of electricity” to cause it to stop beating. Because of these alleged inadequacies in the method of execution, they argue subjecting Ms. Delaney to the electric chair would constitute “cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Ms. Delaney is a victim of the state. They reneged on their deal with her, which led her to death row,” her lawyer said to the Rockville Herald. “On death row, she has kept herself in peak physical condition. In such a state, it will make the execution next to impossible to accomplish without complications. Last I checked, torture is still illegal in the United States.”
When asked about this most recent petition, a spokesperson for the governor’s office just laughed. “I have to compliment her lawyers’ creativity. I think it’s the first time that I’ve heard of someone being too healthy to face execution. It lacks anything approaching merit, but at least it’s amusing.”
Ms. Delaney’s execution has yet to be scheduled.