US court dismisses lawsuit
Death by asphyxiation: Kenneth Eugene Smith is allowed to be executed with nitrogen
Protests by opponents of the death penalty in Montgomery have also been of no use: In Alabama, a man can be executed using nitrogen
© Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser/AP/DPA
In the USA, a contract killer is to be executed using nitrogen – like no other person before him. Lawsuits against the controversial manner of death have now failed in two courts.
The US justice system has announced the planned execution of a criminal in the state of Alabama Nitrogen approved. Kenneth Eugene Smith, sentenced to death for a contract killing he committed in 1988, failed in his bid to stop the execution in both the U.S. Supreme Court and an appeals court.
Death from nitrogen hypoxia
The 58-year-old is expected to die on Friday night German time using so-called nitrogen hypoxia. In this type of execution, nitrogen is supplied via a face mask – the result is death from lack of oxygen. No death sentence has ever been carried out in this way in the USA.
Smith’s lawyers had argued that the condemned man was becoming a kind of test candidate for a new method of execution and that far too many questions remained unanswered. However, the appeal court rejected the reservations. Smith could not prove that the use of nitrogen hypoxia as a new and novel method constituted “cruel and unusual” punishment, the ruling said. Shortly before, the Supreme Court had also rejected a similar application, but did not give any reason for it.
Human rights concerns have no chance
In recent days, demonstrators had called on Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to stop the execution. However, it is unlikely that they will be successful with their request. Human rights experts from the United Nations and Amnesty International warn of a potentially gruesome death. There is therefore no scientific evidence that inhalation of pure nitrogen does not cause serious suffering.
Smith was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in 2022. However, the prison staff were unable to insert the necessary cannula into his arm. He was taken back to his cell after several hours of lying strapped on the execution table.
Sentenced to death almost 30 years ago
Smith was sentenced to death in 1996 for the contract killing committed eight years earlier. After an appeal, the jury had actually recommended a life sentence for him, but the judge in charge ignored this recommendation. The law that enabled him to do this no longer exists since 2017.