A local judge greenlit a new approach to execution for a particular inmate, emphasizing that a "painless death" isn't assured for this convicted contract killer. The individual in question would mark the inaugural case of death by nitrogen hypoxia, following a previous incident of a bungled lethal injection for the same inmate.
From Western Journal:
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was convicted in a 1988 murder in which he and an accomplice were paid $1,000 each. After being sentenced to death in 2022, a bungled lethal injection procedure left him alive.
After Alabama said it would execute Smith with a new method, his attorneys claimed it was both double jeopardy and a violation of Smith’s constitutional rights.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge R. Austin Huffaker turned down the attempt to prevent Smith from being executed on Jan. 25, according to Fox News.
“Smith is not guaranteed a painless death,” Huffaker wrote.
“On this record, Smith has not shown, and the court cannot conclude, the Protocol inflicts both cruel and unusual punishment, rendering it constitutionally infirm under the prevailing legal framework,” Huffaker said, referring to the execution protocol that determines how the method will work.
He noted that lethal injection was also new at one time.
