The plan to impose executions using nitrogen gas rather than lethal injections has nothing to do with reducing cruelty, an expert has claimed.
Authorities in Alabama plan to execute death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith - using nitrogen hypoxia, a method never before used in the United States involving the inhalation of pure nitrogen to starve the body of oxygen and cause death.
It comes after Smith's previous execution attempt by lethal injection was called off after four hours of trying because the death row personnel could not insert an IV into his veins.
Smith was convicted of a murder-for-hire case involving the killing of a preacher's wife named Elizabeth Sennett in 1988. He was found guilty of being one of two men paid to kill her on behalf of her husband, who was in debt and wanted to collect on insurance.
Nitrogen death is highly controversial, with some arguing that it could be painless, while others liken it to human experimentation. Joel Zivot, an associate professor at the Department of Anesthesiology at Emory University School of Medicine has told The Mirror that introducing the method has nothing to do with less cruelty in the process.
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Professor Zivot said: "Alabama is trying to execute with nitrogen gas, not because it thinks lethal injection is cruel, but because it has been increasingly difficult to carry out lethal injection for a series of technical reasons related to chemical and equipment deficiencies and personnel incompetence."
Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi have authorised this method due to a shortage of execution drugs - but no prisoners have yet been put to death by these means.
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Smith was convicted of the murder-for-hire of a preacher's wife in 1988 (Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
Elizabeth Sennett was killed by Smith on the orders of her husband, who wanted to cash in on her life insurance (Find a Grave)The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for Smith. The announcement is expected to trigger legal debates over its constitutionality.
When asked what an execution through nitrogen hypoxia would be like, the Professor could not answer. Instead, he said: "[The process is] unknown."
But he added: "The US Constitution prohibits punishment that is cruel. I have seen no commentary from Alabama State Corrections on how this proposed method of nitrogen gas execution would lack cruelty. Further, the court has been unable to define or recognise cruelty in virtually any method of execution ever used."
The professor further explained: "Nitrogen gas is inert and incapable of supporting cellular metabolism, unlike oxygen." However, the professor said that 'nitrogen hypoxia' is not an actual medical procedure but a made-up term the Alabama authorities are using.
He said: "Nitrogen hypoxia is a term created by state corrections that intends to force prisoners to inhale nitrogen gas for the purpose of killing them."
And he added further explaining the difficulty of the procedure, which could be dangerous even for those practising it: "[It is] unclear how the proceed would be applied. Alabama intends to force a prisoner to wear a mask in order to deliver nitrogen gas. This method requires a prisoner to cooperate or be forced to do so. The mask would also have to be both airtight and able to remove the prisoner's exhaled carbon dioxide.
"Nitrogen gas is odorless and colorless and would therefore be potentially dangerous to anyone observing the execution or assisting in the execution."
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