“Cruel punishment”: Lawyers fight against execution by nitrogen

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Kenneth Eugene Smith (58) committed a murder for hire in the US in 1988 – now he is being executed for it. The verdict will be announced on January 25. But his lawyers are desperately fighting to prevent this. Reason: Smith becomes the first prisoner to be executed with nitrogen.

The lawyers have now asked the US Supreme Court to intervene. This is evident from documents published by the Supreme Court on Friday. In it, the lawyers argue that there are too many unanswered questions to execute the convicted person at this time. It is completely unclear whether the Supreme Court will hear the case.

Never tried before

Smith is administered nitrogen through a face mask during his execution. The result is death from lack of oxygen. A death sentence has never been carried out in this way in the US. According to a spokeswoman, the UN Human Rights Office is not aware of any other similar cases. The method is applied to animals.

Human rights experts from the United Nations and Amnesty International warn of a potentially gruesome death that could even resemble torture. There is no scientific evidence that breathing pure nitrogen does not cause serious suffering.

Duration until unconsciousness unclear

Because the human body needs oxygen to survive, unconsciousness is one of the first consequences of oxygen deprivation. But how long it takes is different for each person. According to toxicologist Henning Hintzsche, this would happen “relatively quickly” when pure nitrogen was administered, we are talking about seconds, a maximum of a few minutes, he tells “Spiegel”.

According to Hintzsche, several factors play a role in duration. The person’s body size, energy needs, weight, fat and muscle distribution, among other things – and Smith could be in excruciating pain for minutes. Hintzsche tells Spiegel: “This is a place where pain and suffering can still arise that can hardly be predicted.”

Lawyers argue the Eighth Amendment

Smith’s lawyers have so far appealed unsuccessfully. In their petition to the nation’s highest authority, they now challenge the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” Central to their argument is the fact that Smith should be executed by lethal injection in 2022.

However, prison staff were unable to place the necessary cannula in his arm. The 58-year-old was returned to his cell after several hours, where he lay strapped to an execution table. The same year, two more executions by lethal injection failed in Alabama. (SDA/neo)

Source: Blick