Months after becoming the first state to use the untested method of nitrogen gas execution, Alabama now aims to conduct another one, The Associated Press reports. The attorney general’s office on Monday asked the Alabama Supreme Court to authorize an execution date for Carey Dale Grayson, who was convicted in the 1994 killing of Vickie Deblieux. If approved, it would be the third scheduled execution using nitrogen gas. The state in January put Kenneth Smith to death in the nation’s first nitrogen gas execution. Alabama has set a Sept. 26 execution using nitrogen gas for Alan Eugene Miller. Lethal injection remains the state’s primary execution method, but inmates can request to be put to death by nitrogen gas or the electric chair. After using nitrogen gas to execute Smith in January, the state is beginning to seek execution dates for the dozens of inmates who requested nitrogen as their preferred execution method.
The request comes despite ongoing disagreement and litigation over what happened at the first execution using nitrogen. Smith convulsed in seizure-like spasms for more than two minutes as he was strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber. That was followed by several minutes of gasping breathing. Advocates expressed alarm at how the execution played out, saying it was the opposite of the state’s promise of a quick and painless death. Alabama’s Attorney General Steve Marshall characterized the execution as “textbook” and offered to help other states develop the new method. A lawyer for Grayson said there needs to be more scrutiny of the process before it is used again. “It is disappointing that the State wants to schedule a third nitrogen hypoxia execution before the question of whether the first one tortured Kenneth Smith has been resolved,” John Palombi, an attorney with the Federal Defenders Program said.