Alabama said it will be unable to execute convicted murderer Alan Eugene Miller with the untested method of nitrogen hypoxia by next week, when he is scheduled to be put to death.
Miller claimed he signed a document in 2018 saying his preferred method of execution was nitrogen hypoxia, but a signed affidavit from the commissioner of the state Department of Corrections, John Hamm, said the state is unable to fulfill that request by next week.
ALABAMA COULD USE NEW UNTESTED METHOD FOR EXECUTION OF PRISONER
BREAKING: Alabama says it will not be ready to execute Alan Eugene Miller by nitrogen hypoxia by next Thursday, the night he is set to die. pic.twitter.com/tCIUShpMPW
— @JonWVTM13 (@JonWVTM13) September 15, 2022
The court-ordered affidavit said the state “cannot carry out an execution by nitrogen hypoxia” but is “ready to carry out the Plaintiff’s sentence by lethal injection” on Miller’s scheduled execution date of Sept. 22.
Execution by nitrogen hypoxia is when a person is killed by being enclosed in a space where oxygen is completely replaced with nitrogen. The execution method, which was signed into state law as an option in 2018, is approved by two other states but has not been ethically tested due to the nature of the method.
Miller is pushing for his execution to be carried out via nitrogen hypoxia reportedly because he has a fear of needles.
State officials have challenged Miller’s allegations he signed a document stating his preference is execution by nitrogen hypoxia, arguing there is no corroborating evidence of his claim that the document he purportedly signed was then lost by an official.
Miller’s lawyer has asked for his execution to be delayed so that the method of nitrogen hypoxia can be further tested by the state and more information on the method can become available.
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Miller is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 22 after being convicted of murdering three people at his workplace in 1999.
