Current:Home > InvestInmate’s lawsuit seeks to block Alabama’s bid to arrange 2nd execution using nitrogen gas -FutureWise Finance
Inmate’s lawsuit seeks to block Alabama’s bid to arrange 2nd execution using nitrogen gas
View
Date:2025-04-18 12:08:55
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama inmate seeking to block the state’s attempt to make him the second person put to death by nitrogen gas has filed a lawsuit arguing the first execution under the new method was “botched” and caused cruel and prolonged suffering.
Attorneys for Alan Eugene Miller, who survived a 2022 lethal injection attempt, filed the lawsuit Friday in federal court in which they challenged the execution method and asked a judge to prevent a potential execution from going forward.
Miller’s attorneys argued that the first nitrogen execution in January left Kenneth Smith shaking and convulsing on a gurney as he was put to death. The suit argued that it would be a violation of the ban on cruel and unusual punishment to put him to death using the same protocol, which used a mask to deliver the nitrogen gas. They also argued the state is seeking to execute Miller to “silence” him in retaliation for speaking out about his failed lethal injection attempt, calling that a violation of his free speech and due process rights.
“Rather than address these failures, the State of Alabama has attempted to maintain secrecy and avoid public scrutiny, in part by misrepresenting what happened in this botched execution,” the lawyers wrote. They said Alabama was unable to conduct such an execution “without cruelly superadding pain and disgrace, and prolonging death.”
A spokeswoman for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment on the lawsuit.
In February, Marshall’s office asked the Alabama Supreme Court to set an execution date for Miller using nitrogen gas. The court has not yet ruled on the request. Miller is scheduled to file a response with the court this week.
The request for an execution date comes as the state and advocates continue to present opposing views of what happened during the state’s first execution using nitrogen. Smith shook and convulsed in seizure-like movements for several minutes on the death chamber gurney as he was put to death on Jan. 25.
Miller was sentenced to death after being convicted of a 1999 workplace rampage in which he killed Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Scott Yancy.
Like Smith, Miller survived a previous lethal injection attempt. The state attempted to execute Miller by lethal injection in September 2022, but that execution was called off after officials were unable to insert an intravenous line into the 351-pound (159-kilogram) prisoner’s veins.
After that attempt, the state struck an agreement with Miller’s lawyers that it would never again seek to execute Miller by lethal injection and that any attempt to execute him in the future would be done with nitrogen gas. However, Miller’s attorneys argued that witness accounts of Smith’s execution contradict Marshall’s assertion that it was “textbook” and went according to the state’s plan.
A separate lawsuit filed by another death row inmate seeking to block the use of nitrogen gas said witness accounts show that Smith’s execution was a botched “human experiment.”
An attorney listed for Miller did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Miller said that during the aborted 2022 lethal injection attempt, prison staff poked him with needles for over an hour as they tried to find a vein and at one point left him hanging vertically as he lay strapped to a gurney.
Miller, a delivery truck driver, was convicted in the fatal workplace shootings of the three men. Prosecutors said Miller killed Holdbrooks and Yancy at one business and then drove to another location where he shot Jarvis. Each man was shot multiple times.
Testimony at Miller’s trial indicated Miller was delusional and believed the men were spreading rumors about him. Jurors convicted Miller after 20 minutes of deliberation and then recommended a death sentence, which a judge imposed.
veryGood! (29)
Related
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Drug possession charge against rapper Kodak Black dismissed in Florida
- Coronavirus FAQ: I'm immunocompromised. Will pills, gargles and sprays fend off COVID?
- See Kylie Jenner Debut Short Bob Hair Transformation in Topless Selfie
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Hawaii Supreme Court quotes The Wire in ruling on gun rights: The thing about the old days, they the old days
- An Ohio city settles with a truck driver and a former K-9 officer involved in July attack
- NFL to play first game in Madrid, Spain as part of international expansion efforts
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- How to defend against food poisoning at your Super Bowl party
Ranking
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- Costco, Trader Joe's and Walmart products made with cheese linked to deadly listeria outbreak
- The Bear Season 3: Premiere Date Clue Proves the Show Is Almost Ready to Serve
- Retired Arizona prisons boss sentenced to probation over armed 2022 standoff with police
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- The wife of a famed Tennessee sheriff died in a 1967 unsolved shooting. Agents just exhumed her body
- People mocked AirPods and marveled at Segways, where will Apple's Vision Pro end up?
- This year's NBA trade deadline seemed subdued. Here's why.
Recommendation
DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
For Native American activists, the Kansas City Chiefs have it all wrong
Carl's Jr. is giving away free Western Bacon Cheeseburgers the day after the Super Bowl
2 more women accuse Jonathan Majors of physical, emotional abuse in new report
NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
'Lover, Stalker, Killer' star on Liz Golyar's cruelty: 'The level of cold-heartedness'
Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost will be featured entertainer at White House correspondents’ dinner
Food holds special meaning on the Lunar New Year. Readers share their favorite dishes