The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to block the execution of a convicted murderer in Alabama using an untested method.
State officials botched their first plan. tried Kenneth Smith's execution is scheduled for November 2022. Smith, who was sentenced to death for a 1988 commission murder, is scheduled to be executed using nitrogen gas within a 30-hour window starting at 12 a.m. Thursday, according to court documents. .
of the judges order The rejection of his request to halt the execution included no explanation or notable dissent. (Related: Liberal judge condemns SCOTUS majority's 'alarming' decision to allow Alabama's death penalty)
“Following a failed attempt to execute Mr. Smith by lethal injection on November 17, 2022, the state is now following an unprecedented protocol of nitrogen hypoxia, something no state or federal government has ever attempted before. “He intends to use an execution method that has not been tested,” his lawyer said. I have written With a request for a stay of execution on January 18th.
The Supreme Court also rejected Smith's request to consider whether a second execution attempt was constitutional after the first “previous cruel and deliberate attempt that caused hours of unnecessary suffering.” .
“His petition does not ask this court to rule on the constitutionality of nitrogen hypoxia as a method of executing convicted people,” his attorneys wrote. “Mr. Smith's petition asks this court that after the previous cruel and deliberate attempt by the ADOC, the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits another attempt to execute Mr. Smith in any manner.” “The availability of nitrogen hypoxia, lethal injection, or other methods is irrelevant to that question.”
new: #scotus The execution of Alabama death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith will not be halted. The death row inmate is scheduled to be the first death row inmate to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia after his first execution by lethal injection failed. There were no notable objections. No, 23A664. pic.twitter.com/WWREiFe7ur
— Kimberly Robinson (@KimberlyRobinsn) January 24, 2024
situation claimed The petition states that execution by nitrogen hypoxia is “probably the most humane method of execution ever devised.”
“Such treatment is far superior to that given to Elizabeth Sennett by Smith some 36 years ago,” the brief said. “Smith and an accomplice tricked Elizabeth into their home, only to stab her eight times in the chest and twice in the neck, all in an attempt to make a quick buck.” He states that his execution will be cruel and unusual, as he was “pricked” with a needle (Pet. 8) to gain IV access during a previous execution. ”
The Alabama Supreme Court upheld the state's use of nitrogen gas in a Nov. 6 v. 2 decision.
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