Louisiana death row inmate challenges gruelling execution method as he’s set to become state's first person to die by it
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/WWLTV
A death row inmate in Louisiana has become the latest prisoner to try and stop his execution from happening.
Yesterday marked one of America's most recent executions, with Brad Sigmon dying by firing squad — a first for South Carolina.
Sigmon, 67, was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend's parents in 2001. He'd beat them to death with a baseball bat.
The criminal had been on death row ever since, but in a last ditch plea last month, Sigmon's legal team tried to stop his execution from happening.
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His lawyers alleged that he was 'forced' into choosing death by firing squad as there wasn't enough information given about the alternative of dying by lethal injection.
But their efforts were in vain, and Sigmon was killed yesterday as originally planned.
Another person with their execution date set soon is Jessie Hoffman Jr., who is currently being held in Louisiana. As it stands, Hoffman will be killed on March 18 for the murder of Molly Elliott in 1996.
With his execution date drawing closer, Hoffman has now filed a federal complaint and a motion seeking to block his execution, where he expressed concerns about use of nitrogen hypoxia, Fox 8 reports.
In the filing, Hoffman argues that Louisiana’s execution protocol is undisclosed and violates his constitutional rights.
Reportedly, the state has refused to share information about nitrogen hypoxia, which is 'an untested execution method in which prisoners will be put to death by suffocation as they are forced to breathe pure nitrogen gas', says the Death Penalty Information Center.
Louisiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi are thought to be the only states that have authorized this type of execution. Alabama has so far used it four times, while Hoffman will be the first inmate in Louisiana.
He will also mark the first execution in the state for 15 years.
In light of Hoffman's filing, Cecelia Kappel, an attorney for the death row inmate, said in a statement: "Louisiana’s nitrogen gas protocol is completely untested and no court has had a chance to review it.
"We haven’t even been able to see the full protocol ourselves, with Jessie’s execution set for just three weeks from now."
But Louisiana state officials have said that execution protocol is nearly identical to Alabama, says AP.
Elsewhere, Hoffman has filed a supplemental clemency application after serving almost 30 years behind bars.