Nitrogen execution was a ‘botched’ human experiment, Alabama lawsuit alleges

The lawsuit alleges the January execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen gas was torturous and 'cannot be allowed to be repeated'

Anti-death penalty activists place signs along the road heading to Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore prior to the scheduled execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith last month. File picture: AP Photo/Kim Chandler

An Alabama death row inmate filed a lawsuit Thursday that challenges the constitutionality of nitrogen gas executions, arguing that the first person in the nation put to death by that method shook violently for several minutes in “a human experiment that officials botched miserably”.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Alabama, alleges the January execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen gas was torturous and “cannot be allowed to be repeated”.