The death penalty is controversial anyway, but convicted rapist and murderer Jessie Hoffman is set to be executed with nitrogen gas.
The 46-year-old has been on death row for most of his life, having been sentenced to death at the age of 18 in 1996 for the rape and murder of a woman named Mollie Elliott.
He had been granted a reprieve by a judge last week, but that was overturned on Friday (14 March) by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Nitrogen gas is a particularly controversial method of execution which the state of Louisiana has banned for euthanising cats and dogs, and if Hoffman is executed then Louisiana will become only the second US state to use nitrogen gas.
Death row inmate Jessie Hoffman is set to be executed, but the method is controversial (Jessie Hoffman Legal Team)
The death row inmate’s legal representatives have said that the method of execution is a cruel and unusual punishment, arguing that in executions using nitrogen gas in Alabama those put to death appeared to be distressed during their execution.
When Kenneth Smith was executed last year an observer described his death thusly: “Smith writhed and convulsed on the gurney. He took deep breaths, his body shaking violently with his eyes rolling in the back of his head.”
Roney went on: “Smith clenched his fists, his legs shook … He seemed to be gasping for air. The gurney shook several times.”
Alabama had claimed that nitrogen gas was ‘perhaps the most humane method of execution ever devised’, claiming that they expected a person to lose consciousness within seconds and die within minutes.
Nitrogen kills a person by depriving their body of oxygen, meaning they essentially suffocate due to something called hypoxia, but is not seen as a good method of execution for many animals as they can become distressed during the process.
Unless he is granted another reprieve, Jessie Hoffman will be executed by nitrogen gas (Louisiana State Courts)
Louisiana veterinarian Lee Capone told The Guardian he’d seen nitrogen gas be used to euthanise dogs in the 1980s and decided then that it was an inhumane method.
“It was clear from their bodies, which had eyes wide open and dilated, saliva round the mouth, signs of vomiting and diarrhea, that they had been frightened and scared, and had suffered,” he said, adding that he became convinced that it was inhumane for animals ‘much less people’.
Photographs from the execution chamber released to the public appear to indicate that Hoffman would be strapped down to a gurney and have a mask fitted over his face.
Hoffman’s execution date is today, and scheduled to be carried out after 6pm local time.
