Obese Death Row Inmate: Parole Board Recommends Clemency

An obese death row inmate who is set for execution in January may get clemency, it an Ohio state parole board’s recommendation is honored by the state’s governor.

The parole board recommended clemency for Ronald Post, 53, who was sentenced to death in 1985 for the 1983 aggravated murder of a hotel clerk, reports Yahoo! News.

The obese inmate is scheduled to die by lethal injection on January 16, but has been fighting the sentence, saying that his weight makes it cruel and unusual punishment to put him to death.

A spokesman for Ohio’s Governor John Kasich stated that he has not decided how he will act on the clemency petition yet. The board stated in the clemency recommendation that Post had “perpetrated a horrendous crime,” but that there were numerous omissions, missed opportunities, and questionable decisions by defense attorneys. Because of this, the board recommended a life sentence instead of a death sentence.

While the obese death row inmate has been in the news recently for his weight, CBS Pittsburgh notes that the parole board made their decision based more on his legal representation than the fact that he weighs more than 450 pounds. A federal judge will also hear Post’s weight claim on Monday.

Post claims that his death would be “torturous and lingering,” because of his weight, along with the state’s use of lethal injection. These factors, according to the obese death row inmate, created a “substantial risk for serious psychological pain.” The parole board voted five to three for clemency. The two who opposed stated that Ronald Post lacks remorse for a crime committed in cold blood. They added that the questionable decisions by Post’s defense did not outweigh the circumstances that occurred.

Do you think that obese death row inmate Ronald Post should be given clemency?