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Alabama seeks to execute man by lethal injection after court ruled against nitrogen method
State lawyers say lethal injection remains available after courts blocked nitrogen hypoxia, and Lee’s attorneys must now respond to the warrant request.
On Friday, the Alabama Attorney General's Office asked the Alabama Supreme Court to authorize a death warrant for Jeffery Lee using lethal injection, hours after a federal court blocked his nitrogen hypoxia execution.
Attorneys describe nitrogen hypoxia as producing "air hunger," panic, and suffocation, arguing the method triggers the body's instinct to breathe while preventing oxygen intake, leading courts to rule it unconstitutionally cruel.
Under Alabama law, the state authorizes three execution methods: lethal injection, electrocution, and nitrogen hypoxia. Lee was convicted for the December 1998 murder and robbery of two people at a store in Dallas County.
State lawyers wrote, "In sum, the Alabama Department of Corrections has not been barred from executing Lee, only from executing him by nitrogen hypoxia." Lee's legal team offered no immediate comment on the action.
Lee's attorneys must now respond to the request at the Alabama Supreme Court, where lethal injection remains the available default method under state law if other options are ruled unavailable.