An Alabama man faces execution by nitrogen gas after a federal judge rejected his appeal that the process should be considered cruel punishment.
Demetrius Frazier had asked for an injunction to stop his execution, which is scheduled for Thursday, msn.com reported. However, Chief District Judge Emily C. Marks stated that Frazier had not shown that using nitrogen gas was unconstitutional.
Frazier had also asked that the state be required to give him a sedative before the gas was used, but that request also was denied.
In 1991, Frazier broke into the apartment of Pauline Brown. Frazier first raped Brown and then executed her with a gunshot to the back of the head, the website reported.
Before he was convicted in the Brown murder, Frazier was found guilty of killing a 14-year-old girl in Michigan in 1992. Unlike Alabama, Michigan does not have the death penalty, and Frazier would serve a life sentence there.
"Please bring my son back to Michigan. Please don't let Alabama kill my son if you can stop it," Frazier's mother, Carol Frazier, wrote in a letter to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to msn.com. Whitmer denied the request.
Alabama began using nitrogen gas in executions last year, putting three men to death. The process, according to CNN, involves placing a mask over a person's face and pumping in nitrogen instead of oxygen. The person dies of nitrogen hypoxia.
At issue is whether the process causes psychological terror and is tantamount to torture. Witnesses reported seeing the men shake and show signs of distress. Some said they seemed to be awake for minutes while wearing the mask.
Although Marks did not find that the witness statements were enough to rule the process unconstitutional, she did argue that the state needed to be aware of potential problems.
"Notwithstanding the State's stubborn refusal at the evidentiary hearing to concede this point, the longer an inmate remains conscious while breathing in nitrogen during an execution, the more likely it becomes that the Eighth Amendment may be violated," Marks wrote, according to CNN.
