(Bad) Luck of the Irish

Some people might say it's a no-brainer to execute a man who killed a cop. But attorneys for Cecil Clayton, who landed on Missouri's death row for doing just that, tried to save their client's life by claiming that Clayton himself was a no-brainer.

To clarify, Clayton's attorneys attempted a last-minute appeal to the US Supreme Court based on the fact that a small portion of Clayton's brain had to be removed following an accident at a sawmill in 1972 which sent a chunk of wood into Clayton's noggin. They claimed that accident played a key role in Clayton's murder of a sheriff's deputy decades later, in 1996. But the appeal was denied, and Clayton was executed by the state of Missouri on St. Patrick's Day.

Instead of a traditional Irish feast for his last meal, Cecil Clayton requested fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, and cola.