Court rejects bid to stop Alabama from proceeding with execution using nitrogen gas on convicted murderer Kenneth Smith
- Canadian firm under fire for supplying equipment for Alabama execution
The US supreme court on Wednesday rejected a bid to halt Alabama from proceeding with the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas to carry out the death penalty on the convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, who survived a botched lethal injection in 2022 that helped prompt a review of the state’s death penalty procedures.
The justices denied Smith’s request to stay his execution, which is scheduled for Thursday. They also declined to hear his legal challenge contending that a second execution attempt by Alabama – after the first failed attempt caused him severe trauma – would violate the US constitution’s eighth amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
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