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Al Arabiya
19-03-2025
- Al Arabiya
Louisiana puts man to death in state's first nitrogen gas execution
Louisiana used nitrogen gas to put a man to death Tuesday evening for a killing decades ago, marking the first time the state has used the method as it resumed executions after a 15-year hiatus. Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, authorities said, adding the nitrogen gas had flowed for 19 minutes during what one official characterized as a 'flawless execution.' Witnesses to the execution said Hoffman appeared to involuntarily shake or had some convulsive activity. But the three witnesses who spoke – including two members of the media – agreed that, based on the protocol and what they learned about the execution method, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Witness Gina Swanson, a reporter with WDSU, described the execution from her viewpoint as 'clinical and procedural.' She said there was nothing that occurred during the process that made her think 'Was that right? Was that how it was supposed to go?' Hoffman declined to make a final statement in the execution chamber. He also declined a final meal. It was the fifth time nitrogen gas was used in the US after four executions by the same method – all in Alabama. Three other executions by lethal injection are scheduled this week – in Arizona on Wednesday and in Florida and Oklahoma on Thursday. Hoffman was convicted of the murder of Mary 'Molly' Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive who was killed in New Orleans. At the time of the crime, Hoffman was 18 and has since spent much of his adult life at the penitentiary in rural southeast Louisiana, where he was executed Tuesday evening. After court battles earlier this month, attorneys for Hoffman had turned to the Supreme Court in last-ditch hopes of halting the execution. Last year, the court declined to intervene in the nation's first nitrogen hypoxia execution in Alabama. Hoffman's lawyers had unsuccessfully argued that the nitrogen gas procedure – which deprives a person of oxygen – violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The man's lawyers, in a last-ditch appeal, also argued the method would infringe on Hoffman's freedom to practice religion, specifically his Buddhist breathing and meditation in the moments leading up to death. Louisiana officials maintained the method is painless. They also said it was past time for the state to deliver justice as promised to victims' families after a decade and a half hiatus – one brought on partly by an inability to secure lethal injection drugs. The Supreme Court voted 5–4 in declining to step in. Hours earlier at a hearing Tuesday, 19th Judicial District Court Judge Richard 'Chip' Moore also declined to stop the execution. He agreed with the state's lawyers who had argued the man's religion-based arguments fell under the jurisdiction of a federal judge who had already ruled on them, according to local news outlets. Under the Louisiana protocol, which is nearly identical to Alabama's, officials had earlier said Hoffman would be strapped to a gurney before a full-face respirator mask fitted tightly on him. Pure nitrogen gas was then pumped into the mask, forcing him to breathe it in and depriving him of the oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions. The protocol called for the gas to be administered for at least 15 minutes or five minutes after the inmate's heart rate reaches a flatline indication on the EKG, whichever is longer. Two media witnesses to Tuesday's execution said Hoffman was covered with a gray plush blanket from the neck down. In the chamber with Hoffman was his spiritual adviser. Ahead of the execution and after the curtains closed to the viewing room, witnesses said they could hear Buddhist chanting. The gas began to flow at 6:21 p.m., and Hoffman started twitching, media witnesses said. His hands clenched, and he had a slight head movement. Swanson said she closely watched the blanket over Hoffman's chest area and could see it rise and fall, indicating that he was breathing. She said his last visible breath appeared to be at 6:37 p.m. Shortly after, the curtains between the chamber and witness viewing room closed. When they reopened, Hoffman was pronounced dead. Seth Smith, chief of operations at the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, witnessed the execution and also acknowledged Hoffman's movements. Smith, who has a medical background, said he perceived the convulsions to be an involuntary response to dying and that Hoffman appeared to be unconscious at the time. Each inmate put to death using nitrogen in Alabama had appeared to shake and gasp to varying degrees during their executions, according to media witnesses, including an Associated Press reporter. Alabama state officials said the reactions were involuntary movements associated with oxygen deprivation. Alabama first used nitrogen gas to put Kenneth Eugene Smith to death last year, marking the first time a new method had been used in the US since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma specifically authorize execution by nitrogen hypoxia, according to records compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center. Arkansas was added to the list on Tuesday. Seeking to resume executions, Louisiana's GOP-dominated Legislature expanded the state's approved death penalty methods last year to include nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution. Lethal injection was already in place. On Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation allowing executions using nitrogen gas, making hers the fifth state to adopt the method. Arkansas currently has 25 people on death row. Over recent decades, the number of executions nationally has declined sharply amid legal battles, a shortage of lethal injection drugs, and waning public support for capital punishment. That has led a majority of states to either abolish or pause carrying out the death penalty. On Tuesday afternoon, a small group of execution opponents held a vigil outside the rural southeast Louisiana prison at Angola, where the state's executions are carried out. Some passed out prayer cards with photos of a smiling Hoffman and planned a Buddhist reading and 'Meditation for Peace.' Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said she expects at least four people to be executed this year in the state. Following Hoffman's execution, she said justice had been delayed for far too long and now Hoffman 'faces the ultimate judgement, the judgement before God.'
Express Tribune
19-03-2025
- Express Tribune
Louisiana executes convicted murderer Jessie Hoffman Jr. in 19-minute nitrogen gas execution, raising concerns over method
Louisiana carried out its first nitrogen gas execution on Tuesday, putting convicted murderer Jessie Hoffman Jr. to death after nearly three decades on death row. The 46-year-old was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, following a 19-minute execution process. The execution, conducted via nitrogen hypoxia, was only the fifth in U.S. history and the first in Louisiana. Prison officials described the process as "flawless," but witnesses reported seeing Hoffman twitching and clenching his hands as the gas flowed. According to reports, he took his final visible breath at 6:37 p.m. before the curtains to the execution chamber were closed. Hoffman was convicted in the 1996 abduction, rape, and murder of 28-year-old advertising executive Mary "Molly" Elliott in New Orleans. His attorneys fought to stop the execution, arguing that nitrogen hypoxia violates the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment. They also claimed it infringed on his religious rights as a Buddhist, as he was unable to practice his breathing meditation in his final moments. "Mr. Hoffman sincerely believes that he must practice his Buddhist breathing exercises at the critical transition between life and death," his lawyers stated. Despite these pleas, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in a 5-4 decision. His spiritual adviser was present, chanting beside him as he was executed. Outside the prison, a small group of protesters gathered, holding signs that read, "Let Jessie Live!" and distributing prayer cards featuring Hoffman's photo. Meanwhile, Molly Elliott's husband, Andy Elliott, called the execution "bittersweet news," stating, "There is relief that this long nightmare is finally over but also renewed grief for Molly and sadness for Mr. Hoffman's family, whose nightmare began when mine did." Despite controversy surrounding the method, Louisiana officials have defended nitrogen executions, claiming they are painless. However, Hoffman's execution, much like Alabama's previous use of the method, has reignited debate over the ethics of capital punishment in the United States.
CBS News
18-03-2025
- CBS News
Judge declines inmate's last-minute plea to halt Louisiana's first nitrogen gas execution
Hours before a Louisiana man was scheduled to be put to death Tuesday, his attorneys hoped for a last-minute court ruling to halt the state's first execution by nitrogen gas. But the judge declined the request, paving the way for the execution to move forward. Louisiana plans to use nitrogen gas to put Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, to death Tuesday evening in the state's first execution in 15 years. Nitrogen gas has been used just four other times to execute a person in the United States — all in Alabama , the only other state with a protocol for the method. Hoffman's attorneys say the method is unconstitutional, violating the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. They also say that it infringes on Hoffman's freedom to practice religion, specifically his Buddhist breathing and meditation in the moments leading up to his death. Louisiana officials maintain that the method is painless and say it is past time for the state to deliver justice promised to victims' families after a decade and a half hiatus. Attorney General Liz Murrill says that she expects at least four people on Louisiana's death row to be executed this year. On Monday, Hoffman's attorneys filed a slew of additional challenges in state and federal courts as a last-ditch effort to stop the execution. The 19th Judicial District Court Judge Richard "Chip" Moore considered one of the challenges at a hearing Tuesday morning, which involved the question of whether the execution as planned violated Hoffman's religious freedom under the Preservation of Religious Freedom Act. But the state judge in Baton Rouge ultimately declined to the halt the impending procedure, CBS News affiliate WAFB reported . The judge on Monday had issued a temporary restraining order — preventing the state from executing Hoffman — pending the Tuesday morning hearing. The restraining order was to expire at 9:30 a.m., with the execution scheduled to take place hours later on Tuesday evening. After court battles earlier this month, a federal judge temporarily halted Hoffman's execution by nitrogen gas last week, issuing a preliminary injunction to stop the state from immediately carrying out his death sentence. An appeals court quickly reversed that injunction, and in the wake of Tuesday's hearing Hoffman's attorneys have just one final appeal out to the United States Supreme Court to halt the execution. However, the court declined to intervene in the nation's first nitrogen hypoxia execution last year. Murrill said that she expects the execution to go forward as planned and that "justice will finally be served." Hoffman was convicted of the 1996 murder of Mary "Molly" Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive, in New Orleans. Under Louisiana protocol, which is nearly identical to Alabama's, Hoffman will be strapped to a gurney and have a full-face respirator mask — similar to what is used by painters and sandblasters — fitted tightly on him. Pure nitrogen gas will then be pumped into the mask, forcing him to breathe it in and depriving him of the oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions. The nitrogen gas will be administered for at least 15 minutes or five minutes after his heart rate reaches a flatline indication on the EKG, whichever is longer. Each inmate put to death using nitrogen in Alabama has appeared to shake and gasp to varying degrees during their executions, according to media witnesses, including a reporter form The Associated Press. The reactions are involuntary movements associated with oxygen deprivation, state officials have said. Currently, four states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma — specifically authorize execution by nitrogen hypoxia, according to records compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center. Alabama first used the lethal gas to put Kenneth Eugene Smith to death last year, marking the first time a new method had been used in the U.S. since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. In an effort to resume executions, Louisiana's GOP-dominated Legislature expanded the state's approved death penalty methods last year to include nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution. Lethal injection was already in place. Over recent decades, the number of executions nationally has declined sharply amid legal battles, a shortage of lethal injection drugs and waning public support for capital punishment. That has led a majority of states to either abolish or pause carrying out the death penalty. Hoffman is scheduled to be the seventh death row execution in the country this year.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana prepares first execution using nitrogen gas after 15-year pause
Louisiana is set to put a condemned man to death using nitrogen gas Tuesday evening in its first execution since 2010, which would make it only the second state to administer the controversial method. The execution of Jessie Hoffman Jr., convicted in the 1996 murder of a woman abducted from a New Orleans parking garage, is scheduled for between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. Hours before the planned execution, a state district court judge rejected an attempt by Hoffman's lawyers to obtain a temporary pause. Gov. Jeff Landry, who signed a bill last year making nitrogen hypoxia a legal alternative to lethal injection, is not expected to intervene either. However, an outstanding appeal remains before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hoffman's lawyers on Monday argued that the method violates his constitutional rights, including his ability to practice his Buddhist religion in his final moments. "It would be unconscionable for the Supreme Court to allow Jessie to be executed before these questions of religious freedom and cruel and unusual punishment can be carefully and thoroughly resolved," Cecelia Kappel, a lawyer for Hoffman, said in a statement. Hoffman, 46, said he began practicing Buddhism in 2002 and has used meditative breathing practices to calm his anxiety in prison. But by putting him to death using nitrogen hypoxia, which involves placing a mask over his face and having him breathe only nitrogen while depriving him of oxygen, an anticipated "sense of suffocation" would be "incompatible" with his right to religious exercise, according to his lawyers. "The record evidence unrebutted by the State establishes that, in Buddhist tradition, meditative breathing at the time of death carries profound spiritual significance, founded in the core belief that meditation and unfettered breath at the time of transition from life to death determines the quality of rebirth," his lawyers wrote in a filing asking the Supreme Court to temporarily halt his execution. Whether the high court will be swayed remains to be seen, but the conservative-majority justices have routinely declined to block nitrogen gas executions in Alabama, which began using the method last year. Louisiana Corrections Secretary Gary Westcott selected nitrogen hypoxia as Hoffman's method of execution after officials have had trouble procuring the necessary lethal injection drugs following the state's last execution in 2010. More than 50 people are on Louisiana's death row. Last week, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick in Louisiana temporarily stopped Hoffman's execution after she found it deserves more scrutiny and said she was troubled that the state waited to release only a redacted nitrogen hypoxia protocol to the public. Hoffman's lawyers had offered alternatives to nitrogen hypoxia at a hearing before the judge, including the method of firing squad or a drug cocktail typically associated with physician-assisted death, although neither option is legal in Louisiana. A federal appeals court reversed the lower court's temporary injunction Friday, in part, it said, because allowing Louisiana to choose a "more painful" execution method such as firing squad would be at odds with the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. In the nitrogen hypoxia executions in Alabama, media witnesses have described inmates appearing to remain conscious longer than expected, gasping for breath and thrashing and shaking on the gurney. Alabama officials have argued in court filings that the method is "swift, painless and humane" and that one of the inmates chose to hold his breath, which hindered his becoming unconscious faster. Louisiana corrections officials said they traveled to Alabama to study how its nitrogen system functions. Louisiana subsequently built a nitrogen hypoxia facility at the Louisiana State Penitentiary consisting of an execution chamber, a valve and storage room, and an observation area. Medical experts have warned that if the procedure is not carried out properly, even a small amount of oxygen's getting into the mask could lead to slow asphyxiation and prolong the time it would take to die. State attorneys argue that Hoffman would still be able to breathe in the mask and that, if anything, "such deep breathing may well lead to him losing consciousness even more quickly." Attorney General Liz Murrill said Friday on X that Hoffman's execution would be "justice for Mary 'Molly' Elliot, her friends, her family, and for Louisiana." Hoffman was 18 in 1996 when he abducted Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive, at gunpoint from a New Orleans parking garage on the night before Thanksgiving Day. Prosecutors said he forced her to withdraw $200 from an ATM, then raped and shot her to death. At Hoffman's trial in 1998, prosecutors told the jury that he confessed and said Elliott begged him not to kill her. "When she asked for mercy, his response was to put a bullet through her head," said the prosecutor, Kim McElwee. "Jesse Hoffman has earned the death penalty." Andy Elliott, the victim's husband, said in a statement that he has become "indifferent" to the use of the death penalty in the three decades since his wife's murder. "However, I'm not indifferent to the uncertainty that has accompanied these many years. If putting him to death is the easiest way to end the uncertainty, then on balance I favor that solution. But, his death will not provide closure," Elliott said of Hoffman, adding, "That pain cannot be decreased by another death, nor by commuting the sentence of Molly's assailant to life in prison." "Molly was a cherished person who missed out on motherhood, a promising and successful career, and a life in the country on the property we bought together," Elliott said. "From my standpoint, hearing why he did this crime is the only hole that could be filled by Jesse himself, yet, he's never offered any explanation or remorse, not even to his own family," he continued. Critics of nitrogen hypoxia have included the Louisiana coalition Jews Against Gassing, whose members have said the method "echoes" the Holocaust. Hoffman's is one of four executions planned in the United States this week, including one in Arizona, which is scheduled to put an inmate to death by lethal injection for the first time since 2022. This article was originally published on
NBC News
18-03-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Louisiana prepares first execution using nitrogen gas after 15-year pause
Louisiana is set to put a condemned man to death using nitrogen gas Tuesday evening in its first execution since 2010, which would make it only the second state to administer the controversial method. The execution of Jessie Hoffman Jr., convicted in the 1996 murder of a woman abducted from a New Orleans parking garage, is scheduled for between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. Hours before the planned execution, a state district court judge rejected an attempt by Hoffman's lawyers to obtain a temporary pause. Gov. Jeff Landry, who signed a bill last year making nitrogen hypoxia a legal alternative to lethal injection, is not expected to intervene either. However, an outstanding appeal remains before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hoffman's lawyers on Monday argued that the method violates his constitutional rights, including his ability to practice his Buddhist religion in his final moments. "It would be unconscionable for the Supreme Court to allow Jessie to be executed before these questions of religious freedom and cruel and unusual punishment can be carefully and thoroughly resolved," Cecelia Kappel, a lawyer for Hoffman, said in a statement. Hoffman, 46, said he began practicing Buddhism in 2002 and has used meditative breathing practices to calm his anxiety in prison. But by putting him to death using nitrogen hypoxia, which involves placing a mask over his face and having him breathe only nitrogen while depriving him of oxygen, an anticipated "sense of suffocation" would be "incompatible" with his right to religious exercise, according to his lawyers. "The record evidence unrebutted by the State establishes that, in Buddhist tradition, meditative breathing at the time of death carries profound spiritual significance, founded in the core belief that meditation and unfettered breath at the time of transition from life to death determines the quality of rebirth," his lawyers wrote in a filing asking the Supreme Court to temporarily halt his execution. Whether the high court will be swayed remains to be seen, but the conservative-majority justices have routinely declined to block nitrogen gas executions in Alabama, which began using the method last year. Louisiana Corrections Secretary Gary Westcott selected nitrogen hypoxia as Hoffman's method of execution after officials have had trouble procuring the necessary lethal injection drugs following the state's last execution in 2010. More than 50 people are on Louisiana's death row. Last week, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick in Louisiana temporarily stopp ed Hoffman's execution after she found it deserves more scrutiny and said she was troubled that the state waited to release only a redacted nitrogen hypoxia protocol to the public. Hoffman's lawyers had offered alternatives to nitrogen hypoxia at a hearing before the judge, including the method of firing squad or a drug cocktail typically associated with physician-assisted death, although neither option is legal in Louisiana. A federal appeals court reversed the lower court's temporary injunction Friday, in part, it said, because allowing Louisiana to choose a "more painful" execution method such as firing squad would be at odds with the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. In the nitrogen hypoxia executions in Alabama, media witnesses have described inmates appearing to remain conscious longer than expected, gasping for breath and thrashing and shaking on the gurney. Alabama officials have argued in court filings that the method is "swift, painless and humane" and that one of the inmates chose to hold his breath, which hindered his becoming unconscious faster. Louisiana corrections officials said they traveled to Alabama to study how its nitrogen system functions. Louisiana subsequently built a nitrogen hypoxia facility at the Louisiana State Penitentiary consisting of an execution chamber, a valve and storage room, and an observation area. Medical experts have warned that if the procedure is not carried out properly, even a small amount of oxygen's getting into the mask could lead to slow asphyxiation and prolong the time it would take to die. State attorneys argue that Hoffman would still be able to breathe in the mask and that, if anything, "such deep breathing may well lead to him losing consciousness even more quickly." Attorney General Liz Murrill said Friday on X that Hoffman's execution would be "justice for Mary 'Molly' Elliot, her friends, her family, and for Louisiana." Hoffman was 18 in 1996 when he abducted Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive, at gunpoint from a New Orleans parking garage on the night before Thanksgiving Day. Prosecutors said he forced her to withdraw $200 from an ATM, then raped and shot her to death. At Hoffman's trial in 1998, prosecutors told the jury that he confessed and said Elliott begged him not to kill her. "When she asked for mercy, his response was to put a bullet through her head," said the prosecutor, Kim McElwee. "Jesse Hoffman has earned the death penalty." Andy Elliott, the victim's husband, said in a statement that he has become "indifferent" to the use of the death penalty in the three decades since his wife's murder. "However, I'm not indifferent to the uncertainty that has accompanied these many years. If putting him to death is the easiest way to end the uncertainty, then on balance I favor that solution. But, his death will not provide closure," Elliott said of Hoffman, adding, "That pain cannot be decreased by another death, nor by commuting the sentence of Molly's assailant to life in prison." "Molly was a cherished person who missed out on motherhood, a promising and successful career, and a life in the country on the property we bought together," Elliott said. "From my standpoint, hearing why he did this crime is the only hole that could be filled by Jesse himself, yet, he's never offered any explanation or remorse, not even to his own family," he continued. Critics of nitrogen hypoxia have included the Louisiana coalition Jews Against Gassing, whose members have said the method "echoes" the Holocaust. inmate to death by lethal injection for the first time since 2022.
