The Alabama Supreme Court has approved a new type of prisoner execution using nitrogen gas.

The Alabama Supreme Court has approved the use of nitrogen gas to execute prisoners. It is reported that the request of the Prosecutor General state a warrant for the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith using nitrogen gas was granted by a nationwide court. The decision makes Alabama the third state to allow the use of nitrogen as an execution method, following Oklahoma and Mississippi. However, Alabama could become the first state to implement such an execution.

When using nitrogen as an execution method, the prisoner is given the opportunity to breathe only this gas, completely depriving him of access to oxygen. Proponents of this method consider it painless, but opponents express concerns about experimenting on humans.

The defendant’s lawyers said they were disappointed by the court’s decision and would continue to fight to protect their client’s rights in court.

Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted of the 1988 murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennett.

Earlier, information appeared in the media about the possible use of nitrogen for the death penalty in the United States. The state attorney general’s office asked the local superior court to set an execution date for Smith. Last year, he was not put to death due to technical problems with the injection.

This past July, Alabama carried out its first execution since a pause announced in 2022. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has temporarily suspended the death penalty in the state due to concerns and controversy over execution methods.