Alabama cleared to become first state to execute inmate with nitrogen gas: court

Fox News ^ | 11/02/23 | Pilar Arias

[Libloather]

Alabama's Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the state to execute an inmate using nitrogen gas.

The state's attorney general’s request for an execution warrant for Kenneth Eugene Smith was granted in a 6-2 decision by an all-Republican court.

Last year, the Alabama Department of Corrections called off the execution of Smith when the people responsible for connecting two intravenous lines to him for lethal injection could not do so.

While the ruling moves the state closer to becoming the first to attempt execution with nitrogen gas, there is likely to be additional legal dispute on the matter. Alabama joins Oklahoma and Mississippi with authorization to use nitrogen hypoxia as a form of execution, although no state has yet attempted to use it.

Smith was one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett in Alabama's Colbert County.

"Elizabeth Sennett's family has waited an unconscionable 35 years to see justice served. Today, the Alabama Supreme Court cleared the way for Kenneth Eugene Smith to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall wrote. "Though the wait has been far too long, I am grateful that our capital litigators have nearly gotten this case to the finish line."

Smith's legal team had urged the court to reject the execution request. They also previously accused the state of trying to move Smith to "the front of the line" for a nitrogen execution in order to moot Smith’s lawsuit challenging lethal injection procedures.

[Chad C. Mulligan]

What’s the advantage of N over CO in executions?

CO2 stimulates the breathing reflex. The subject starts to pant. CO Carbon Monoxide acts rather slowly. Nitrogen does not stimulate the reflex. and it's over in just a few minutes.