Alabama set to execute inmate with nitrogen gas, a never before used method
Alabama has executed a man with nitrogen gas, putting him to death with a first-of-its-kind method that once again put the U.S. at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment. Officials said Kenneth Eugene Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. Thursday at an Alabama prison. It marked the first time a new execution method has been used since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. The execution came after a last-minute legal battle in which Smith’s attorneys said the state was making him the test subject for an experimental execution method that could violate the constitutional ...