Current:Home > InvestPredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:Alabama schedules nitrogen gas execution for inmate who survived lethal injection attempt -WealthRoots Academy
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:Alabama schedules nitrogen gas execution for inmate who survived lethal injection attempt
Poinbank Exchange View
Date:2025-04-07 19:45:24
Alabama has scheduled a date for the upcoming execution of Alan Eugene Miller,PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center a convicted murderer who, after surviving a previous execution attempt, is set to become the second inmate ever put to death using nitrogen gas in the United States. Nitrogen hypoxia is a controversial method allowed only in a handful of U.S. states that essentially aims to asphyxiate the prisoner with a gas mask devoid of oxygen.
The first person executed this way was Kenneth Smith, who was put to death in late January, marking the state's first use of nitrogen gas for an execution. Although nitrogen hypoxia had technically been authorized as an alternative execution method for several years in Alabama, along with Oklahoma and Mississippi, no one was actually executed with the toxic gas before Smith earlier this year.
Miller's execution is set for Sept. 26, according to a memo issued Wednesday by the office of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey that specified nitrogen hypoxia as the method. Miller was convicted of killing three men in 1999.
Writing to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm with a time frame for the execution — beginning at midnight on Sept. 26 and ending at 6 a.m. local time the next morning — Ivey said that she has "no current plans to grant clemency in this case" but nonetheless has "authority under the Constitution of the State of Alabama to grant a reprieve or commutation, if necessary, at any time before the execution is carried out."
Ivey's memo followed a decision last week handed down by the Alabama Supreme Court that authorized the execution by nitrogen gas and approved a request from the state's attorney general asking that the governor be allowed to officially set the date. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed that request in February, writing at the time that the state "is prepared to carry out the execution of Miller's sentence by means of nitrogen hypoxia," and adding, "it is once more the appropriate time for the execution of his sentence."
Miller, 59, has been on death row in Alabama for decades, since a jury found him guilty of killing three people in August 1999 and recommended in a vote that he should be executed for the crimes. While working as a delivery truck driver for a company called Ferguson's Enterprises in Pelham, Alabama, which near Birmingham, authorities said that Miller fatally shot two of his colleagues, Christopher Yancy and Lee Holdbrooks, at the company building. He went on to fatally shoot another man, Terry Jarvis, at another location in the same city.
Witnesses recalled after the fact that Miller had accused all three men of "starting rumors" about him before shooting each one multiple times, court filings show. Descriptions of the murders in those filings are gruesome and disturbing, and the court ultimately found during Miller's trial that his crimes were especially heinous.
Alabama has already attempted to execute Miller. His 2022 execution was stopped because of time concerns and trouble accessing his veins.
Miller was one of at least four death row prisoners in the state whose lethal injections were botched or halted over the last four years. Mishaps inside the execution chamber called into question Alabama's ability to carry out executions at all. Amid a shortage of lethal injections made available for capital punishment, the state has turned to nitrogen hypoxia as another potential option.
While it was not Smith's decision to die by nitrogen gas, Miller chose this execution method for himself and in fact fought for that choice in court. Ahead of the failed lethal injection attempt in 2022, a federal judge issued an injunction blocking Alabama from going through with Miller's execution after the inmate filed a lawsuit claiming that he had elected nitrogen hypoxia as his preferred means to die but the state had lost his paperwork.
Justices in a subsequent decision lifted that injunction, and the state tried to execute Miller shortly after. Alabama prison officials had said they did not have a record of any paperwork, and suggested that Miller was looking to delay his sentence. Death row inmates in Alabama were given a window of time to elect to die by nitrogen hypoxia after the state authorized it as an execution method in 2018.
Critics of nitrogen hypoxia point to its potential to cause unnecessary harm to the condemned and even endanger others present in the chamber.
Before Smith's nitrogen execution in January, advocates in the U.S. and abroad spoke out against the Alabama prison system for allowing an untested method to proceed, with the United Nations' chief human rights official even going so far as to say that nitrogen asphyxiation "could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international human rights law."
- In:
- Alabama
- Crime
- Execution
Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She covers breaking news, often focusing on crime and extreme weather. Emily Mae has previously written for outlets including the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.
Twitter InstagramveryGood! (9891)
Related
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Google is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Here's a look back at the history of the company – and its logos
- Ringo Starr on ‘Rewind Forward,’ writing country music, the AI-assisted final Beatles track and more
- Officials cement plans for Monday's $250 million civil fraud trial against Trump
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- TikTok videos promoting steroid use have millions of views, says report criticized by the company
- $10,000 bill sells for nearly half a million dollars at Texas auction — and 1899 coin sells for almost as much
- U.S. aims to resettle up to 50,000 refugees from Latin America in 2024 under Biden plan
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- With Damian Lillard trade, Bucks show Giannis Antetokounmpo NBA championship commitment
Ranking
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- 'The truth has finally set him free.': Man released after serving 28 years for crime he didn't commit
- For Sanibel, the Recovery from Hurricane Ian Will Be Years in the Making
- The journey of 'seemingly ranch,' from meme to top of the Empire State Building
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- New Thai prime minister pays friendly visit to neighboring Cambodia’s own new leader
- 4 environmental, human rights activists awarded ‘Alternative Nobel’ prizes
- 5 UAW members hit by vehicle in Michigan while striking
Recommendation
Sam Taylor
Menendez will address Senate colleagues about his bribery charges as calls for his resignation grow
Milwaukee to acquire Damian Lillard from Portland in blockbuster three-team trade
Police looking for boy at center of pizza gift card scam to support his baseball team
Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
Stock market today: Asian shares fall over China worries, Seoul trading closed for a holiday
Heinz announces new product after Taylor Swift condiment choice goes viral at Chiefs game
Disney World government will give employees stipend after backlash for taking away park passes