“Alabama’s decision to proceed with an execution despite facing a legal challenge was upheld by a federal judge on Friday. The judge dismissed the inmate’s claims that the new method of nitrogen gas execution is cruel and causes psychological distress, ruling that the inmate had not met the legal threshold to halt the execution. Chief District Judge Emily C. Marks denied Demetrius Frazier’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop his scheduled execution in Alabama for the rape and murder of Pauline Brown in 1991.
The judge stated that Frazier failed to prove that the execution method posed a substantial risk of severe psychological pain, thereby violating the Eighth Amendment. Alabama has been using nitrogen gas as a method of execution, with Frazier being the fourth inmate to face this form of capital punishment in the U.S. The process involves replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas through a respirator gas mask, leading to death by oxygen deprivation.
Frazier’s lawyers argued that previous nitrogen gas executions in the state had caused conscious suffocation instead of the promised swift death. Witness testimonies, including that of an anesthesiologist who observed an inmate appearing conscious for up to three minutes during an execution, raised concerns about distress and suffering experienced by the condemned.
Despite descriptions of involuntary movements and signs of distress during previous executions, the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove severe psychological pain beyond what is inherent in any execution. However, she acknowledged the potential for constitutional violations if an inmate remains conscious while being deprived of oxygen during an execution.
Prior to his Alabama conviction, Frazier had been serving a life sentence in Michigan for the 1992 murder of a 14-year-old girl. His mother appealed to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to intervene and bring him back to serve his sentence in Michigan rather than face execution in Alabama. Governor Whitmer’s office declined to comment on the plea.
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