A loss of life row inmate slated to develop into the primary particular person to be put to loss of life by nitrogen gasoline in Louisiana is in search of to halt the execution, citing constitutional issues over the controversial killing methodology.
Jessie Hoffman is ready to be executed March 18, however his attorneys are asking a choose for a preliminary injunction to stop it because of the secrecy of how the execution shall be carried out.
The inmate will current his arguments throughout a listening to on Friday, throughout which he’s anticipated to testify.
Hoffman was convicted of first-degree homicide within the 1996 rape and homicide of 28-year-old Mary “Molly” Elliot.
Hoffman’s attorneys say that he was knowledgeable Feb. 20 that he shall be killed utilizing nitrogen gasoline, however state officers haven’t but offered an in depth execution protocol, which the attorneys say is important to satisfy his constitutional rights.
“The State wants to roll out this new gas protocol but keep it hidden from the public and even from the man they seek to kill,” Samantha Kennedy, government director of the Promise of Justice Initiative, who’s representing Hoffman, instructed NewsNation.
“Jessie Hoffman has a right to know how he’s going to be killed, and we have a right as his attorneys to be able to determine if it’s going to be a constitutional.”
Louisiana Legal professional Common Liz Murrill has defended the state’s resolution to make the most of nitrogen hypoxia, a way used to suffocate an individual by denying them oxygen and permitting them to solely inhale nitrogen gasoline.
“On March 18, 2025, the State of Louisiana will execute Hoffman by nitrogen hypoxia for Molly’s murder. We have and will continue to vigorously defend the State’s obligation to carry out this sentence and bring justice to the family and friends of Molly Elliot,” Murrill mentioned in a press release.
Murrill instructed Nexstar affiliate WVLA that she hasn’t personally spoken to the sufferer’s household.
Historical past of nitrogen gasoline executions within the US
The nation’s first execution utilizing nitrogen gasoline was carried out final yr in Alabama, which has now been used to execute 4 individuals within the state. If Hoffman’s execution doesn’t get halted, Louisiana will develop into the second state to make the most of the strategy on loss of life row inmates.
The entire males executed in Alabama utilizing nitrogen shook or gasped to various levels on the gurney as they had been being put to loss of life, in response to media witnesses, together with The Related Press.
Rev. Jeff Hood, the non secular advisor for Kenneth Smith, who was the primary particular person to be killed utilizing nitrogen, witnessed his execution and known as it “a gradual, painful technique of torture.”
Smith’s execution was “the most violent thing that I have ever witnessed or engaged with,” Hood instructed Catholic information outlet OSV. “It was absolutely … incredibly disturbing to see a human being suffocated to death.”
Alabama Legal professional Common Steve Marshall has maintained the strategy as “painless and humane.”
After convicted assassin Alan Miller settled a lawsuit in opposition to Alabama over the usage of nitrogen gasoline in 2024, Marshall acknowledged, “The resolution of this case confirms that Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia system is reliable and humane.”
Alabama’s nitrogen executions show much more how untested this methodology is, Kennedy mentioned.
“It’s impossible to know if somehow Louisiana Department of Corrections has fixed all the problems that happened in Alabama, where every single time they killed people with gas, it was absolutely a torturous, gruesome, horrific experience,” she mentioned.
“Jessie Hoffman and the public have a right to know what is the process that Louisiana is engaging in, and … if they’re upholding everyone’s constitutional rights,” Kennedy added.
Which states enable for the usage of nitrogen gasoline in executions?
At present, 4 states enable nitrogen gasoline executions: Louisiana, Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi.
An Arkansas invoice that will enable nitrogen on loss of life row inmates handed the state Home on Tuesday and can now advance for a full vote.
Louisiana had paused executions for 15 years because of an lack of ability to safe deadly injection medicine, however with a nitrogen gasoline execution protocol finalized final month, the state has been wanting to proceed.
“For too long, Louisiana has failed to uphold the promises made to victims of our State’s most violent crimes, but that failure of leadership by previous administrations is over,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry mentioned in a press release.
Louisiana scheduled two executions on consecutive days in March, however inmate Christopher Sepulvado, who was scheduled to be executed at some point earlier than Hoffman, died on Feb. 23 of an sickness.
Hoffman had initially challenged Louisiana’s deadly injection protocol in 2012 on the grounds that the strategy was merciless and weird punishment.
U.S. District Choose Shelly Dick dismissed the lawsuit in 2022 as a result of the state had no executions deliberate however reopened the case final month, saying that the scheduled executions had been “extraordinary circumstances” that warranted extra scrutiny.
A 3-judge panel of the U.S. fifth Circuit Court docket of Appeals issued a keep in Dick’s ruling whereas it considers an opposition from Murrill.
The Related Press contributed to this story.
