24 January 2024 , 18:11
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Death row prisoner Kenneth Eugene Smith is set to be the first person in the US executed using nitrogen gas, sparking a heated debate on its ethics.
The 58-year-old man is scheduled for execution over a 30-hour window beginning January 25 for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot that left a pastor's wife dead. This new controversial method of nitrogen hypoxia has drawn backlash and scrutiny from critics everywhere, especially as it remains untested.
Previously, Smith survived a botched attempt at lethal injection execution back in November 2022 where he spent four hours believing his death was only moments away. Now, 14 months later, if everything goes to plan, Smith will be the first ever person to be executed using this method in the US.
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Kenneth Eugene Smith will be the first inmate executed with nitrogen gas (Alabama Department of Corrections)
Elizabeth Sennett, 45, was found dead on March 18, 1988, in the couple's home in Alabama's Colbert County (Find a Grave)What is nitrogen hypoxia?
Nitrogen hypoxia is essentially suffocation with nitrogen gas. Either pure nitrogen gas, or gas at a high enough concentration to be lethal, is inhaled to the point of causing asphyxiation.
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While nitrogen makes up around 80 per cent of the air we breathe, it isn't deadly to inhale until it is separated from oxygen. The state has maintained that nitrogen gas will cause Smith to fall unconscious quickly, but critics have likened the never-used method of execution to human experimentation.
The theory behind nitrogen hypoxia is that by changing the composition of the air to 100 per cent nitrogen, Smith will lose consciousness then die from a lack of oxygen. Much of what we know about nitrogen hypoxia comes from medical journal records related to industrial accidents, where nitrogen leaks or mix-ups have killed workers, and suicide attempts.
What will happen during Smith's execution?
Officials have said that during his execution, Smith will be strapped to a gurney, similar to those being executed by lethal injection. He will then be forced to breathe nitrogen through a mask until his body is completely depleted of oxygen and his organs shut down.
The state will fit a 'NIOSH-approved Type-C full facepiece supplied air respirator', a type of mask usually used by industrial workers, over Smith's face during the execution. After this, a warden will read out the death warrant and ask Smith for any final words before triggering the "nitrogen hypoxia system" from another room.
Kenneth Eugene Smith survived the first attempt to execute him in November 2022 (BBC /ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS)According to Alabama's guidelines for execution by nitrogen hypoxia: "After the nitrogen gas is introduced, it will be administered for (1) fifteen minutes or (2) five minutes following a flatline indication on the EKG, whichever is longer." However, parts of the protocol for this new execution method have been redacted from public view.
Many blacked-out sections cover details such as how the gas system is stored, tested and set up. Some parts still left visible do warn about the dangers associated with having nitrogen tanks in the workplace, and make it clear that staff dealing with the system will receive training.
Unlike other execution methods, any non-essential participants will be asked to depart from the execution chamber after the mask is fixed to the inmate condemned to die. Alabama's protocol doesn't permit spiritual advisors inside the chamber "unless they review and sign the spiritual adviser nitrogen hypoxia acknowledgement form" beforehand.
Smith's spiritual advisor, Reverend Jeff Hood, expressed his worries about Smith's potential suffering and resistance to the execution. He stated: "This is not going to be a peaceful experiment." Adding: "I think it's important for people to realise, when you strap someone down like that, you can't expect someone who's choking to death - suffocating to death - to not resist."
Why is nitrogen hypoxia so controversial?
After the decision was made to execute Smith using nitrogen hypoxia, the United Nations issued a statement from experts expressing their "alarm" at the prospect of the first-of-its-kind execution. They raised concerns about the possibility of "grave suffering which execution by pure nitrogen inhalation may cause" and noted that there was no scientific evidence to prove otherwise.
Smith's own lawyers have claimed the state is looking to make him the "test subject" for a new execution method. At present, Alabama is just one of three states, along with Oklahoma and Mississippi, that authorises the use of nitrogen gas in executions.
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Smith will be strapped to a gurney as he was in his last execution attempt in 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)They have argued the mask the state plans to use is not airtight and oxygen seeping in could subject him to a prolonged execution, potentially even leaving him in a vegetative state instead of killing him. A doctor testified on behalf of Smith that the low-oxygen environment could cause nausea, leading Smith to choke to death on his own vomit.
Research shows that when the air has only about 12.5 per cent oxygen, people can experience "impaired respiration that may cause permanent heart damage", feel sick, throw up, and have "very poor judgement and coordination". So, if Smith breathed in just a little bit of oxygen, he could stay half-awake but suffer.
In 2020, the American Veterinary Medical Association said in their guidelines for putting animals to sleep that nitrogen hypoxia might be okay for pigs in some cases, but not for other mammals because it makes an "anoxic environment that is distressing for some species."
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