Ohio to alter execution for cancer-stricken inmate

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio will make it easier for a condemned inmate who lost his larynx to cancer to make a final statement at his execution, a gesture of flexibility the state argues is one more reason a federal judge should dismiss a lawsuit challenging Ohio's execution procedures.

Kenneth Smith is scheduled to die July 19 for his involvement in the slaying of a husband and wife in their Hamilton home in 1995 during a robbery. Since his incarceration, Smith, 45, had his larynx removed and uses an artificial voice box.

For the execution, the state will raise the head of the gurney where Smith will lie about four inches and let him keep one arm free to make it easier to use his voice box, according to an affidavit by Edwin Voorhies, South Regional Director for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

It would be the first time an Ohio inmate has not been completely strapped down since the state resumed executions in 1999.