All articles tagged with #execution method
Tennessee death row inmate Harold Wayne Nichols declined to choose his preferred method of execution, resulting in the state defaulting to lethal injection for his scheduled Dec. 11 execution. Nichols, convicted of murder and rape, had previously chosen the electric chair but did not specify a preference this time. The state has been updating its lethal injection protocols due to concerns over drug testing and execution methods.
Lawyers for Alabama inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith have argued that he would be a "test subject" for an experimental execution method of nitrogen hypoxia, as they requested the state's request to carry out his death sentence using the new method be denied. The proposed method involves forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing death. While nitrogen gas is authorized as an execution method in three states, it has never been used to execute an inmate. Smith's attorneys accused the state of trying to move him ahead of other inmates to moot his lawsuit challenging lethal injection procedures.