The mother of death row Scot Kenny Richey has said she is "happy beyond belief" at the news he could be coming home to Edinburgh.
Death row Scot Kenny Richey has missed a court hearing that would have set him free after more than 20 years in prison after he fell ill.
Eileen Richey's son has spent more than 20 years in a US jail after being convicted in 1987 of an arson attack which killed a two-year-old girl.
Mr Richey, originally from Edinburgh, was taken from Putnam County Prison to a nearby medical centre prior to his court appearance.
Richey could be freed on Thursday following a deal with prosecutors.
He had been expected to enter a plea which would have allowed him to walk free and return home for Christmas.
He is expected to plead no contest to attempted involuntary manslaughter and child endangering.
The cause of Mr Richey's ill health is not yet known.
Obviously I am happy beyond belief that his long imprisonment is almost over Eileen Richey
Richey has been booked on a flight, which is expected to land in the UK on Saturday, his lawyer said.
Solicitor Ken Parsigian said his client would be sentenced to time already served.
Ms Richey, who still lives in Edinburgh, said: "Firstly can I thank the many people who have supported Kenny in his fight for justice and freedom.
"Things happen in such a rush and as yet I haven't been able to speak to Kenny.
"Obviously I am happy beyond belief that his long imprisonment is almost over.
"But because of false hopes that have been raised in the past, I don't think that I'll be able to believe my son is finally free of the torment he has endured for more than 20 years until he is back home here in Edinburgh with me.
"I am his mother and it is my duty to ensure that he experiences as smooth as possible a transition to normal life again."
Kenny Richey had been facing a retrial after two appeals
Richey was put on death row in January 1987 after being convicted in Ohio of starting a fire in which two-year-old Cynthia Collins died.
Prosecutors claimed he began the fire as a jealous attack on his former girlfriend and her new lover, who lived in the flat beneath.
Richey, who has always protested his innocence, refused a plea bargain which would have led to an 11-year sentence for arson and manslaughter.
On 10 August the Cincinnati Court of Appeal overturned the Scot's sentence.
He was moved from the notorious Mansfield Correctional Institution in Ohio in September to the low-security Putnam County Prison.
Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: "Kenny Richey's 20-year ordeal came after a flawed trial and serious concerns about the Ohio justice system.
"He now joins the ranks of those released from American death row prisons when they should never have been there in the first place."
Richey is expected to meet his brother Steve, who lives in Ohio, before boarding a United Airways flight to London.
