Alabama Inmate’s Execution to Proceed With Nitrogen Gas
Alabama is set to move forward with the country’s first execution using nitrogen gas, after U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker denied Kenneth Eugene Smith’s request for an injunction to stop his scheduled Jan. 25 execution for nitrogen hypoxia. Smith, who was convicted for the 1988 murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife, is challenging the method, stating that it is untested and cruel.
The state’s plans involve replacing breathable air with nitrogen with a respirator-type mask placed over Smith’s nose and mouth. Three states have authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, but it has not yet been attempted.
Smith’s lawyers have argued that the method makes him a “test subject” and have vowed to appeal the decision. This could lead to the question of whether execution with nitrogen gas can be carried out, being brought before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Alabama Attorney General’s office defended the new execution protocol, stating that oxygen deprivation “will result in loss of consciousness within seconds and death within minutes.”
On the other hand, Smith’s attorneys have pointed out potential problems with the method, such as the gas mask interfering with Smith’s ability to make a final statement before witnesses in his final moments.
This case stems from the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett, a preacher’s wife, for which Smith was convicted along with another man named John Forrest Parker. The crime shocked the small northern Alabama community at the time and led to the death penalty for Smith.
The conviction, however, was not straightforward. Smith’s initial conviction in 1989 was overturned on appeal. He was retried and convicted again in 1996. Alabama no longer allows a judge to overrule a jury in death penalty decisions, and the judge sentenced Smith to death despite the jury recommending a sentence of life in prison.
This case is expected to attract widespread attention as Alabama seeks to move forward with its unprecedented execution method.