Lawyers: Obese Ohio inmate faces 'torturous' death

By Andrew Welsh-huggins

Associated Press

Published: Tuesday, Sept. 18 2012 12:57 a.m. MDT

This undated photo provided by the Ohio Dept. of Rehabilitation and Corrections shows death row inmate Ronald Post. Post, 53, scheduled to die Jan. 16, 2013, for the 1983 shooting death of hotel desk clerk, wants his upcoming execution delayed. At 480 pounds, Post says he’s too heavy for the state’s lethal injection process.

Ohio Dept. of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Associated Press

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Summary

Attorneys for a condemned inmate who weighs 480 pounds argue he faces a torturous and lingering death if his execution is carried out early next year.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Attorneys for a condemned inmate who weighs 480 pounds argue he faces a torturous and lingering death if his execution is carried out early next year.

Ronald Post, who shot and killed a hotel clerk in northern Ohio almost 30 years ago, says his weight, vein access, scar tissue and other medical problems raise the likelihood of severe problems with an execution.

Lawyers for the 53-year-old Post also said in their federal court filing Friday the inmate is so big the execution gurney might not hold him.

The filing also said Post is discouraged from walking because he is at risk for falling, and suffers depression that affects his eating.

Post is scheduled to die Jan. 16 for the 1983 shooting death of hotel desk clerk Helen Vantz in Elyria.

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