By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-31 04:16:59 | Updated at 2025-04-01 22:07:18
1 day ago
Lawyers for a death row inmate in Florida are trying to stay his execution next week, arguing that it would be unconstitutional given the prisoner’s morbid obesity, which could complicate his planned lethal injection.
Convicted killer Michael Tanzi, 48, is set to be executed on April 8, unless the court intervenes.
Tanzi has been on death row since he was found guilty and sentenced for the murder of 49-year-old Janet Acosta in 2003.
He took her hostage after threatening her with a razor blade and proceeded to sexually assault and strangle her in her own car before abandoning her body in a wooded area nearby in April 2000, according to prosecutors.
Tanzi is supposed to face execution by lethal injection next week, but his defense argued it would violate the Eighth Amendment, which protects against forms of cruel and unusual punishment.
An appeal filed last Monday cites the inmate’s litany of health issues spurred by his obesity, including “severe chronic sciatica […] hyperlipidemia, uncontrolled hypertension, and gastroesophageal reflux disease.”
“The existing protocols for lethal injection do not contemplate the execution of someone with obesity and uncontrolled medical conditions, like Mr. Tanzi’s, that are likely to complicate the lethal injection process. Executing Mr. Tanzi using the existing protocols is likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering,” the appeal read.
The lawyers did not specify how much Tanzi currently weighs, but typically, people with a body mass index higher than 30 are considered obese, according to the World Health Organization.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier swiftly denied Tanzi’s appeal for relief just two days after it was filed.
Uthmeier wrote that the legal team did not present sufficient evidence and noted that if they were really concerned, they had ample time to raise those concerns earlier.
Tanzi’s team is now looking to the court to reverse Uthmeier’s refusal.
The killer’s execution would be the third in Florida this year.
Edward James was executed by lethal injection on March 21 for the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl and her grandmother. His legal defense also argued that executing him would violate the Eighth Amendment because of his steep “cognitive decline.”
On Valentine’s Day, James Dennis Ford was executed by lethal injection for the 1997 murder of a couple in the presence of their toddler.
