Louisiana is set to carry out a controversial method of execution that is illegal to use on cats and dogs, and hasn’t been used in over 15 years.
Jessie Hoffman, 46, was initially meant to be executed using the traditional method of lethal injection but this could change depending on the results of a hearing on Tuesday (March 18).
Hoffman was sentenced to death in 1996 for the rape and murder of Mary Elliott.
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Death by nitrogen gas isn’t common among the states that allow capital punishment and has only been used previously in Alabama.
According to a New York Post report, those that have witnessed this form of execution note that they have seen condemned men writhing on the gurney as they were forced to inhale nothing by nitrogen while still conscious.
Last year in January, Kenneth Eugene Smith was executed using this method after previously surviving two lethal injection attempts years prior. Witnesses said the process took 22 minutes, and he continuously thrashed against the restraints for the duration.
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The execution is a form of slow suffocation as the Nitrogen gas forces hypoxia which means the body is deprived of oxygen.
This method is considered inhumane when it comes to putting down pets and under Louisiana Law is only used on cats and dogs if they are already unconscious through sedation.
The scheduled hearing for today is in response to a move by Hoffman’s legal team as they made a filing highlighting a state law that they say ‘prohibits the government from interfering with the exercise of religious faith.’
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His legal team have said while their client has said he is sorry for the 1996 rape and murder, he should not be executed by this largely untried and controversial method, partly because it violates his religious freedoms.
Hoffman’s lawyer, Cecelia Kappel, spoke to USA Today and said: “He takes full responsible for this very tragic, awful crime," she said. "He is so sorry to the family of Molly Elliott and he wishes to have opportunity before he dies to have a face-to-face conversation where he can apologize in person.”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has argued against this move and said it is simply ‘an attempt to see what will stick’ and she added that in a statement that she expects Hoffman’s Tuesday execution to ‘go forward as planned.’
Gerrard Kaonga