Man who killed three people has execution stayed over lethal injection

• A man who killed three people was temporarily saved from execution for a small detail.
• A judge blocked Alan Miller’s execution by lethal injection because the inmate requested an alternative method.
• Alan Miller was scheduled to be executed on September 22.

On Monday, September 19, a federal judge prevented Alabama from executing an inmate who claims the state lost his paperwork requesting a different execution method than lethal injection.

U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker, Jr. issued a preliminary injunction to prevent the state from executing Alan Miller on Thursday, September 22, 2022, by any method other than nitrogen hypoxia, an unproven method that Miller says he requested but Alabama is not ready to use.

Judge blocks lethal injection in Alabama

Miller was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing three people in a workplace shooting in 1999. “Miller will likely suffer irreparable injury if an injunction does not issue because he will be deprived of the ability to die by the method he chose and instead will be forced to die by a method he sought to avoid and which he asserts will be painful,” Huffaker wrote.

The injury will be «the loss of his ‘final dignity’ — to choose how he will die,» the judge added. The ruling prevents Alabama from carrying out the lethal injection that had been set for Thursday, September 22. However, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall will appeal the decision, Mike Lewis, a spokesman for Marshall, wrote in an email.

Which execution method did Alan Miller choose?

Nitrogen hypoxia is the proposed method of execution in which death would occur by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, thereby depriving them of the oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions, explained The Associated Press.

Nitrogen hypoxia has been licensed by Alabama and two other states for executions, but no state has attempted to execute an inmate using the unproven method. When Alabama approved nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative method of execution in 2018, state law gave inmates a short window to designate it as their method of execution.

«I didn’t want to be stabbed with a needle»

Miller testified last week that he handed back a state nitrogen selection form the same day a worker at the prison distributed it to inmates. He said he left it in the slot in his cell door for a prison worker to pick up, but he didn’t see who picked it up.

Miller described how he disliked needles because of the painful attempts to draw blood. He said the nitrogen method reminded him of nitrous oxide gas used in dentists’ offices, and that seemed better than lethal injection. «I didn’t want to be stabbed with a needle,» Miller said.

Is Miller trying to delay his execution?

Alabama prison officials say they are not aware of Miller returning the form and argued Miller is only trying to delay his execution. Huffaker wrote that he cannot rule out the possibility that Miller is lying about selecting nitrogen to delay his impending execution, but said his testimony was credible. “It is very likely that Miller opportunely chose nitrogen hypoxia,” the judge wrote.

The judge noted the possibility that Alabama may soon be able to use nitrogen. “From all that appears, the State intends to announce its willingness to carry out executions for nitrogen hypoxia in the coming weeks,” the judge wrote.