A Death Row inmate’s lawyers are calling out a state for ignoring “flaws” in their execution method.
Carey Dale Grayson, an inmate in Alabama, is facing execution by nitrogen gas this winter and his legal team is demanding a federal judge block the state from using the contentious protocol again.
They claim that witness testimonies and autopsy results from the “torturous” execution of Kenneth Smith in January expose serious issues, including that Smith had blood fill his lungs.
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Alabama, having pioneered nitrogen executions, intends to proceed with two more, despite concerns.
Grayson’s lawyers slammed the state’s response in a court appeal, stating: “Rather than investigating what went wrong – as other states have done following issues with executions – defendants have chosen to ignore clear and obvious signs the current protocol contains major problems that will result in more unconstitutionally torturous executions if it continues to be employed.”
While the Attorney General’s office avoided commenting after the Tuesday filing, they’ve staunchly defended the method’s legality before, with AG Steve Marshall even describing past executions as “textbook”.
The state is set to reply to the plea for a preliminary injunction soon. Following his death, an autopsy by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences found Smith had blood and fluid in his lungs, reports the Mirror US.
The state’s post-mortem examination showed that upon being opened up, his lungs exhibited “marked congestion and edema with dark maroon blood”. It also recorded a “small amount of frothy fluid” present in the tracheobronchial tree.
An expert engaged by Grayson’s defence team has labelled the autopsy findings as “highly concerning”.
Dr. Brian McAlary, an anaesthesiologist, said these signs suggest negative pressure pulmonary edema, which can arise when someone tries to inhale against a blocked upper airway, leading to fluid being sucked out from the blood vessels.
He further suggested this condition might also be caused by strangulation or suffocation with a plastic bag. Moreover, he highlighted that not using a sedative before exposure to nitrogen gas could heighten the chances of panic.
Dr. McAlary noted in his report: “Mr. Smith’s autopsy demonstrates what happens to the body when this panic response occurs. An individual experiencing panic and the sensation of the inability to breathe while also being denied oxygen will experience a constricted airway similar to an upper airway obstruction.”
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Dr. Thomas Andrew, the former chief medical examiner of New Hampshire, told AP that when the heart is failing “blood backs up and the lungs become quite congested”.
He added: “I think that’s a critical critique of the protocols used in this form of execution… You certainly will have a sense of the absence of oxygen, air hunger, and all of the panic and discomfort that is part and parcel of that way of dying.”
Alabama went ahead with nitrogen gas as an execution method in 2018, which Grayson picked for his own execution despite the state’s lack of concrete plan to administer it at the time.
Grayson was convicted for the 1994 murder of 37-year-old Vickie Deblieux in Jefferson County. She was attacked by Grayson and three other teens after they offered her a ride while she was hitchhiking home. They brutal assault her, tossed her off a cliff, and then mutilated her body, prosecutors said.
The death penalty only fell on Grayson because he was the oldest of the teenagers.
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