Get On With It

Lawyers: Obese Ohio Inmate Faces 'Torturous' Death

Sep 18, 2012 3:40 AM (ET)

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A condemned Ohio inmate who weighs 480 pounds and has a history of difficulty losing weight argues he would face a "torturous and lingering death" if executed in January.

Yes, at that weight his punishment may in fact prove to be greater than that of a convicted premeditated murderer half his weight.  Oh, well.  Them’s the breaks, you worthless killer.  Let’s proceed; I'm all for a tortuous and lingering death for you, Mr. Post.

Ronald Post, who shot and killed a hotel clerk in northern Ohio almost 30 years ago, said his weight, vein access, scar tissue, depression and other medical problems raise the likelihood his executioners would encounter severe problems.  He's also so big that the execution gurney might not hold him, lawyers for Post said in federal court papers filed Friday.

Why are we concerned about him or the executioners experiencing “severe problems?”  In fact, if the executioners are paid by the hour, this is a better deal for them.  I think the hotel clerk Post murdered experienced some severe problems, too, and the clerk’s family and friends did as well, and are living those problems to this day.  Why are we even listening to what he has to say about the punishment directed by the state?  Why does he have a any kind of say in this?

Who cares about a gurney?  Let’s get some carpenters to build a makeshift table, stout and sturdy enough to hold him.  That shouldn’t be too difficult.  Some 4x4 posts and stout 2x6’s ought to do it.  Or he can just be made to lie on the floor, where his victim ended up after he murdered her.  The floor sounds like a fine additional aspect of his punishment.

"Indeed, given his unique physical and medical condition there is a substantial risk that any attempt to execute him will result in serious physical and psychological pain to him, as well as an execution involving a torturous and lingering death," the filing said.

Well, his unique physical condition requires unique physical adjustments to his execution—no big deal.  As for serious physical and psychological pain, that’s exactly what he deserves, a distinct and in my opinion intentional aspect of his punishment, for the premeditated murder of a person in furtherance of theft.  He should be made to suffer.

Post, 53, is scheduled to die Jan. 16 for the 1983 shooting death of Helen Vantz in Elyria.

A spokeswoman for the prisons department had no comment on the pending litigation.

Post's attorneys also want more time to pursue arguments that claims of a full confession by the inmate to several people have been falsely exaggerated.

So it sounds like he’s in prison and has been telling people of his crime.  Well, that has nothing to do with his trial and conviction—the issue was decided then, and he is guilty of the murder and was sentenced accordingly.  This discussion has nothing to do with this.

"Post's case is about more than his weight, and his life should be spared for reasons wholly unrelated to his obesity," his federal public defender, Joseph Wilhelm, said in a statement.

His obesity has nothing to do with his pending execution.  He is still the same person who committed the murder and was convicted and sentenced for it.  Simple workarounds need to be found and put into action to carry out the sentence directed by the court.  He was tried, convicted and sentenced, and the sentence must be carried out.  The death penalty—no penalty, from a traffic ticket to death—has no power of deterrence when the punishment comes decades after the crime.

Inmates' weight has come up previously in death penalty cases in Ohio and elsewhere.

In 2008, federal courts rejected arguments by condemned double-killer Richard Cooey that he was too obese to die by injection. Cooey's attorneys had argued that prison food and limited opportunities to exercise contributed to a weight problem that would make it difficult for the execution team to find a viable vein for lethal injection.  Cooey, who was 5-foot-7 and weighed 267 pounds, was executed Oct. 14, 2008.

Good riddance to a convicted murderer.

In 2007, it took Ohio executioners about two hours to insert IVs into the veins of condemned inmate Christopher Newton, who weighed about 265 pounds. A prison spokeswoman at the time said his size was an issue.

So did poor Christopher have an extra two hours to consider his fate, question his actions, regret the decisions in his life, and wallow in 120 minutes of terror while his execution slowly took shape?  Well, then, good.  It’s what he earned, and deserved.

In 1994 in Washington state, a federal judge upheld the conviction of Mitchell Rupe, but agreed with Rupe's contention that at more than 400 pounds, he was too heavy to hang because of the risk of decapitation. Rupe argued that hanging would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

No, sorry, Mitch.  You were a convicted and sentenced murderer.  Decapitation is just fine for guys like you.

After numerous court rulings and a third trial, Rupe was eventually sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 2006.

So this waste got an additional 12 years of life?  Did his victims get an additional 12 years of life?  No.  Then why is he afforded this luxury?

Ohio executes inmates with a single dose of pentobarbital, usually injected through the arms.

Why can’t convicted murderers be injected through the eye?  That sounds like good punishment.

Medical personnel have had a hard time inserting IVs into Post's arms, according to the court filing. Four years ago, an Ohio State University medical center nurse needed three attempts to insert an IV into Post's left arm, the lawyers wrote.

So what?  So it takes a while and/or may take multiple attempts.  So what?  This is the nature of the operation, given his unique physical situation, so poor Post is just going to have to sit still and let them sort it out, so the state can carry out the punishment it decided upon, the one he earned through his actions. 

A good three hours for him to sit there, fully conscious and awake, would be time well spent in the course of his execution.  Let him contemplate his actions for just a few hours more.  If I were running the event, I’d have a court officer read family testimonials and key details of his trial and sentencing hearing, just to reinforce to him what all the fuss is about.

Post has tried losing weight, but knee and back problems have made it difficult to exercise, according to his court filing.

Okay, sure, I don’t think he needs to be forced to exercise, although that sounds like good punishment, too.  I ask the simple question: does the hotel clerk he shot have any current knee and back problems?

Post's request for gastric bypass surgery has been denied, he's been encouraged not to walk because he's at risk for falling, and severe depression has contributed to his inability to limit how much he eats, his filing said.

Good—no elective surgery for any inmate, anywhere, any time.  If he’s at risk of falling, then he can walk, or not, that’s up to him.

Depression affecting his inability to limit his eating?  What?  Uh, he’s in a prison, a relatively closely controlled environment.  Why can’t they limit his intake?  That would tend to affect how much he eats.  Exercise or not, if the prison takes charge of his intake, he’ll lose weight.  So what if he’s hungry?  Let him be hungry night after night, and remind him why he’s being compelled to lose weight.

While at the Mansfield Correctional Institution, Post "used that prison's exercise bike until it broke under his weight," according to the filing.

Why was he given a bike to begin with?  Why is the state spending this kind of money on worthless dogs like him?