- Lawyers for death row inmate Kenneth Smith asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday to block the execution of a murderer by nitrogen hypoxia.
- Smith, 58, is scheduled to become the first inmate in the United States to be executed using this method on January 25th.
- Mr. Smith's lawyers argue that the “untested” nature of the method could be used against the state and that the risks it poses to their client could extend into constitutionally questionable territory. There is.
Lawyers for an Alabama inmate scheduled to become the nation's first death row inmate by nitrogen gas asked a federal appeals court Friday to block future executions using “untested methods.”
Death row inmate Kenneth Smith, 58, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, with a respirator-style mask placed over his face to replace the air he breathes with pure nitrogen, depriving him of the oxygen he needs to stay alive. You will be killed. Three of his states, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, have approved nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, but no state has ever attempted to use nitrogen hypoxia.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Smith's appeal of a federal judge's Jan. 10 decision to postpone the execution, said opinions were divided on the humanity and potential risks of the proposed method. A trial was held. The three judges on the panel asked questions about the proposed method, including the argument that Mr. Smith could have suffocated to death on his own vomit, but did not say when they would issue a ruling. There wasn't.
Minister at Alabama prisoner's nitrogen gas execution calls for more safety measures in state
Mr. Smith's attorney, Robert Glass, told the judge that the state was “attempting to execute Kenny Smith under unprecedented circumstances,” saying the plan to inject nitrogen gas through a mask was flawed and that Mr. Smith They argued that it could impose long-term, unconstitutional and painful executions on people. .
“This is the first time something like this has been attempted. We don't have data on what exactly will happen and how it will proceed,” Glass said.
As drugs used in lethal injection, the most common method of execution in the United States, become increasingly difficult to obtain, some states are exploring new ways to execute inmates. If Smith is executed by nitrogen hypoxia, it would be the first new execution method used in the United States since lethal injection was first used in 1982.
The Alabama Attorney General's Office asked the court to proceed with the execution.
“Alabama has adopted the most painless and humane method of execution known to man,” Alabama Attorney General Edmond LaCour told the judge.
Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted of murder in the 1988 murder of a preacher's wife. He is scheduled to become the first American inmate to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia. (Alabama Department of Corrections, via AP, File)
The court requires prisoners who object to the method of execution to suggest available alternatives. In arguments Friday, Circuit Judge Charles Wilson noted that when Smith fought past attempts to execute people by lethal injection, he had previously suggested nitrogen as an alternative method. At the time, the state had not developed a protocol for nitrogen executions, and it was unclear when the state would conduct it.
Glass said he objects to the state's plan to use masks to deliver nitrogen. This is because there is a risk of oxygen leaking, and it is possible that Mr. Smith would be left in a vegetative state and executed for a long period of time without being killed. He argued that Mr Smith could have suffocated to death on his own vomit.
The state argued that such a scenario was unlikely to materialize. Wilson asked if the execution would be halted if Smith vomited into the mask, but LaCour said the state would not halt the execution if nitrogen gas started flowing.
“Are you saying that if someone vomits while wearing a mask during an execution, the state won't stop the execution and will allow them to suffocate with their vomit?” Wilson asked.
LaCour responded that there was no “significant risk” that Smith would vomit. LaCour argued that Smith would not feel pain because the nitrogen would render him unconscious “almost instantly.”
Smith was one of two men convicted of murdering a preacher's wife in 1988. Prosecutors said Smith and another man each paid $1,000 to kill Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect insurance money. Ta. Another man convicted in the case, John Forrest Parker, was executed by lethal injection in 2010. According to court documents, Sennett's husband committed suicide while he was being targeted as a suspect in her murder investigation.
Alabama attempted to execute Smith by lethal injection in 2022, but the state halted the execution before the lethal drugs were administered because authorities were unable to connect the two necessary intravenous lines to Smith's veins. did. Smith's attorney said Smith was strapped to his stretcher for nearly four hours during his execution.
Mr. Smith's lawyers also argue that the state of Alabama has given him due process by scheduling his execution before other inmates who have requested nitrogen as their preferred method of execution, and while he continues to appeal. claimed to be infringing on the rights of
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In a separate lawsuit, Smith argued that the state's attempt to carry out a second execution after he survived the first execution violates the federal ban on cruel and unusual punishment. On Friday, Smith asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution to consider the issue.
