What is Nitrogen Hypoxia execution? Meaning explained as Alabama man Kenneth Smith set to be executed in experimental process

58-year-old Kenneth Smith, who has been convicted in the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett, is expected to be executed by Nitrogen Hypoxia. This execution would reportedly be the first one after 1982 that would happen in this experimental procedure. The execution is scheduled for Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Whole Smith's attorneys filed an appeal to halt the execution, but the US Supreme Court refused to accept it. The Nitrogen Hypoxia process involves pumping the nitrogen gas through a mask. According to Smith's lawyers, the punishment is "cruel and unusual." Law&Crime reported that anti-death penalty activists also protested against the same.

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Reportedly, an "unusual" execution process of Nitrogen Hypoxia has been decided for convicted murderer Kenneth Smith

On Thursday, January 25, the state of Alabama is set to have 30 hours to execute the punishment for 58-year-old Kenneth Smith. The method was last used in an execution back in 1982. In this process, the inmate is deprived of oxygen while nitrogen is forced into them. This deprivation eventually leads to asphyxiation.

USA Today reported a statement by Joel Zivot, an associate professor in anesthesiology at Emory University's School of Medicine, regarding the process. According to Zivot,

"What is known is that nitrogen gas, under certain circumstances, can cause death. But the terms of how it's going to exactly work is still unclear."

This process of execution has given rise to controversies lately. Several ethical questions have come to light surrounding the process of Nitrogen Hypoxia. While Zivot claimed that death can cause more suffering and be prolonged, Former Alabama State Sen. Tripp Pittman believed otherwise. Pittman contended that this process was more humane, and thus, he introduced the bill in 2018.

Zivot, however, stood by his statement and also mentioned that if the gas is pumped through a mask, Smith might vomit and choke to death. In the worst-case scenario, if the gas leaks due to some negligence, it would also harm others.

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This is the second attempt to execute Kenneth Smith

BBC News reported that Smith was one of two men who were found guilty of the murder. The other convicted man, John Forrest Parker, faced death by execution back in 2010. During the murder trial, the Alabama man claimed that while he was present when the victim was attacked, he didn't do it himself.

Along with Smith's lawyers, The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights also requested a halt in the execution process, which was later denied.

Death Penalty Action Executive Director Abraham Bonowitz told Law&Crime,

"The discussion that is missing in all of this hubbub around nitrogen hypoxia is the mental torture of a second execution attempt... Alabama’s capital punishment system as a whole is broken and cannot be trusted to get it right."

In November 2022, Smith was set to face execution using lethal injection. However, that didn't take place, as Livemint reported. According to his lawyers, officials trying to get access to Smith's veins caused "severe physical pain and psychological torment, including post-traumatic stress disorder."