Ohio AG To Consider Adopting Execution By Nitrogen

The Associated Press reports:

Republican state Attorney General Dave Yost scheduled a news conference Tuesday to discuss “next steps to kickstart” Ohio’s capital punishment system. He has expressed support for the nitrogen gas method used for the first time in Alabama last week, when convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was put to death with nitrogen gas administered through a face mask to deprive him of oxygen.

The execution took about 22 minutes from the time between the opening and closing of curtains to the viewing room. Smith seemed to remain conscious for several minutes. For at least two minutes, he appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney, sometimes pulling against the restraints. State officials in Alabama said the process was humane and effective, while critics called it cruel and experimental.

Read the full article. Ohio’s last execution was in 2018.

Alabama successfully used nitrogen to carry out a capital sentence.

Perhaps nitrogen—widely available and easy to manufacture—can break the impasse of unavailability of drugs for lethal injection.

Death row inmates are in greater danger of dying of old age than their sentence.

— Attorney General Dave Yost (@DaveYostOH) January 26, 2024