Court filings provide additional details of the US’ first nitrogen gas execution

Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Court filings are providing new details of what happened in the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas. Kenneth Smith was executed in Alabama on Jan. 25. A corrections officer said in a sworn statement that Smith had normal blood oxygen levels for longer than he expected. The state theorized that was because Smith was holding his breath. Another filing indicated that the nitrogen gas was flowing for at least 10 minutes. The documents were included in litigation over the execution method. A federal judge on Tuesday will hear arguments in a request to block the state from executing Alan Miller by nitrogen gas in September in what would be the nation’s second nitrogen execution.