An Alabama inmate is at the center of an “experimental” execution method debate. His lawyers are strongly opposing the state’s request to carry out his death sentence using the untested method of nitrogen hypoxia. Kenneth Eugene Smith’s attorneys have urged the Alabama Supreme Court to reject the state attorney general’s request to set an execution date. While nitrogen gas has been authorized as an execution method in three states, it has never been used before. Smith’s lawyers argue that the state has not provided enough information about how nitrogen executions would be carried out, only releasing a redacted copy of the proposed protocol.
Smith’s attorneys wrote, “The state seeks to make Mr. Smith the test subject for the first ever attempted execution by an untested and only recently released protocol for executing condemned people by the novel method of nitrogen hypoxia.” Under the proposed method, the inmate would be forced to only breathe in nitrogen, causing hypoxia and depriving them of the oxygen necessary to sustain bodily functions, ultimately leading to death. While nitrogen is harmless when inhaled with oxygen, opponents have raised concerns about the ethical implications of using this method, comparing it to human experimentation.
Although Alabama authorized nitrogen hypoxia in 2018, this would be the first attempt to use it. Oklahoma and Mississippi have also authorized the method but have not yet employed it. Smith was convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennett in Alabama’s Colbert County. According to prosecutors, Smith, along with another man, was paid $1,000 to carry out the killing on behalf of Sennett’s husband, who was facing financial difficulties and wanted to collect insurance money. The other man involved was executed in 2010. Charles Sennett, the victim’s husband and a Church of Christ pastor, committed suicide when he became a suspect in the investigation.+
(Read more nitrogen hypoxia stories.)
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
