The American Justice gave the green light to the execution of a prisoner through the use of nitrogen, a gas that causes asphyxiation and that for the first time in the country’s history will be used to carry out a capital punishment.
The death penalty with nitrogen gas is allowed in three states in the North American country, but has never been used.
Kenneth Eugene Smith 58 years old, was saved from being executed in November 2022 because the state officials in charge of the process could not apply the lethal injection into his veins, reported the Alabama reflector digital newspaper.
The Supreme Court of Alabama, in the southeastern United States, ruled in favor of the request made in August by the state Attorney General’s Office to set the date for Smith’s execution.
The inmate’s defense expressed disappointment in the Supreme Court’s ruling and announced that the legal battle will continue.
Smith filed an appeal with the Alabama Court of Appeals claiming that a second attempt to execute him violates his constitutional rights, according to the Sputnik news agency.
The prisoner was sentenced to death in 1988 for the contract murder of the wife of a Christian pastor who wanted to collect insurance money to pay his debts.
Smith will be forced to breathe nitrogen gas, which will cause his death by asphyxiation. Defenders of the method maintain that it is painless, while its detractors compare it to experiments on humans.
The controversial method is also authorized in the states of Oklahoma and Mississippi.
The United States is one of the few countries where the death penalty is still in force.
Source: Ambito
