Death Row Controversy in the State of Alabama, USA

by Vijaya Chandrasoma

The United States of America prides itself as the greatest nation in the world, the One Nation Under God (the Protestant Incarnation), the haven of peace and compassion. A thrice-blessed country where citizens are expected to live according to the sacred teachings of the Bible.

The macabre case of Kenneth Smith seems to be completely at odds with these sanctimonious claims.

Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58 years old, was convicted for the contract killing of Elizabeth Sennett of Colbert County, Alabama, 35 years ago. He was a part of a team hired by her husband, Charles Sennett, Sr. to commit the murder, which was carried out by stabbing Elizabeth to death at her Colbert County home in March 1988.

Charles Sennett committed suicide a week after the killing, when he learnt he was a suspect in the murder. After over three decades of appeals, the others involved in the killing have either died in prison or been executed by lethal injection. Smith alone remains on death row, 35 years later.

Smith was scheduled to be executed in November 2022 by lethal injection, the traditional method of legal murder in the State of Alabama. However, the execution team was unable to connect the intravenous lines of poison to Smith before the expiration of the death warrant issued by the Alabama Supreme Court. But not before Smith suffered excruciating mental and physical torture in the execution chamber. In addition to the extreme mental torture he has been suffering in death row since the botched execution, over 15 months ago.

The State of Alabama agreed with Smith’s counsel not to pursue Smith’s execution by lethal injection. Instead, they decided to try a novel and unproven method of execution, nitrogen asphyxiation. A procedure which involves strapping an air-tight mask to suffocate him and forcing him to inhale pure nitrogen, an inert gas that would starve his body of oxygen. Doctors condemn this procedure, as inhalation of nitrogen could induce vomiting, and the executee could suffocate on his own vomit.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said last week that “the never-before-used method could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” and called for a halt.

An appeal was filed by Smith’s counsel for a stay of execution, on grounds, over and above cruel and unusual punishment, that nitrogen hypoxia would endanger the lives of those with him in the execution chamber. The appeal was rejected, in spite of the fact that the Alabama Department of Corrections acknowledged that nitrogen gas represented a health hazard. The Department required those involved in Smith’s execution, including the execution team and Smith’s spiritual advisor, to sign a waiver acknowledging the risks, including death, of exposure to the gas.

Smith became the first inmate in U.S. history to be executed using nitrogen asphyxiation, on Thursday, January 25, 2024, as there was no stay order. The procedure was successful, and Smith has finally been dispatched to meet his maker.

If not, better luck next time, Alabama! As they say, Third time’s a Charm.I am reporting on Smith’s cruel execution debacle in Alabama to prove that I am quite capable of writing about gruesome American news without any reference to Donald Trump.