Death penalty in US: Alabama Governor announces America's first nitrogen hypoxia execution. Details of method here
death penalty as Alabama will go ahead with the much talked about execution using nitrogen hypoxia, an alternative method to lethal injection, as confirmed by the state's Republican governor.
The method of execution known as nitrogen hypoxia entails the deprivation of oxygen to both the brain and the body, resulting in the demise of the inmate through suffocation.
The execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, initially planned via lethal injection, encountered an unexpected cancellation in November. The state faced challenges in properly establishing the IV line before the execution warrant expired.
Following this setback, Smith, who deemed the previous attempt a botched execution, requested to be put to death using nitrogen gas instead of lethal injection.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Wednesday announced a January 25 execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith using the new method. Smith was one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett in northwestern Alabama.
«The execution will be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the method previously requested by the inmate as an alternative to lethal injection,» Ivey spokesperson Gina Maiola wrote in an emailed statement.
The statement referenced how Smith's attorneys noted the state was developing the nitrogen method when fighting previous efforts to execute him by lethal injection.
The announcement of the execution date moves Alabama closer to becoming the first state to attempt an execution by nitrogen gas, although there will be a legal fight before it is used. Nitrogen hypoxia has been authorized as an execution method in Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi, but no state has used it.
Smith’s attorneys on Thursday filed a lawsuit in federal court
