McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — A judge has ruled against an Oklahoma death row inmate whose attorneys were seeking to halt his upcoming execution for the 2002 killing of his 9-month-old daughter.
District Judge James Bland denied the request by Benjamin Cole's attorneys on Friday. They wanted Bland to order the prison warden to find that Cole is insane.
Cole's attorneys claim he's not sane enough to be executed. They are expected to appeal the judge's ruling to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
The 50-year-old Claremore man is set to be executed by lethal injection on Oct. 7. He was convicted of first-degree murder in Rogers County for killing his daughter, Brianna Cole.
Brianna's spine was broken and her aorta torn after she was forcefully bent backward. Cole has not denied killing the child.