If it wasn't so tragic, this would make a great bit in a Mel Brooks comedy.

Remember Clarence Ray Allen, the bad-ass who was recently killed by the State of California? He was the guy who was legally blind, had heart disease, diabetes, was 76 years old, and generally a health mess. Well, it turns out (thanks to MsJan for pointing me to this) that there were a few interesting wrinkles in his march ... ah ... roll out to the death chamber.

First of all, the prison officials had to deal with the fact that the California Gas Chamber is not wheel chair accessible. San Quentin uses the old gas chamber to perform lethal injections and it has a rather large threshold to step over. Isn't that like a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act or something? Could he have sued to require the gas chamber be wheel chair accessible and thus postponing his execution until the necessary renovations were made?

But wait. It gets better. Turns out Clarence had made a request going into his D-Day:

Anticipating a possible replay of his September heart attack, Allen had asked prison authorities to let him die if he went into cardiac arrest before his execution

Sounds reasonable. Save the taxpayers money too. But noooooo. Not in our "culture of life":

...a request prison officials said they would not honor.

"At no point are we not going to value the sanctity of life," said prison spokesman Vernell Crittendon. "We would resuscitate him."

Huh? The ADA suit doesn't look so ridiculous with thinking like this.

And, oh yes. They have a contingency plan to be sure and "value the sancity of life" in the midst of killing someone:

Crittendon explained that executions are scheduled for one minute after midnight because the death warrant is only valid for that day, giving authorities time to treat an inmate's ailments, then kill the prisoner without having to seek another order.

Good. Allow plenty of time to resusitate him should he have any medical problems so he can be killed proper. Certainly don't want to have to get another order when you're respecting life this way.

(scratching my head)

But ole' Clarence had the last laugh:

Allen suffered cardiac arrest four months ago, but was revived and returned to Death Row. Yet his heart proved strong enough Tuesday, forcing prison officials to administer a second shot of potassium chloride to stop it.

"It's not unusual, this guy's heart had been going for 76 years," said Warden Stephen Ornoski.

He was pronounced dead at 12:38 a.m.

He showed them. He not only made them carry him from his wheel chair into the gas chamber (it took four prison guards), but he made them spend another two bucks on an additional shot to induce the heart failure they were committed to not have happen (like a fine wine), "before it's time".

It's a twisted set of values we have in our culture. But it would make a good comedy bit if it wasn't so tragic.