Montgomery, Alabama – On Friday, a federal judge refused to halt what would be the fourth nitrogen gas execution in the United States, saying the inmate had not proven his claims that the new method is unconstitutionally cruel and causes psychological terror.
Chief District Judge Emily C. Marks denied Demetrius Frazier’s request for a preliminary injunction to either halt his execution in Alabama on Thursday or require the state to give him a sedative before administering the gas.
Marks ruled that Frazier had not met the “exceedingly high” legal standard required to obtain an injunction.
“Frazier fails to meet his burden to establish that the Protocol does create a substantial risk of serious psychological pain such that the Protocol violates the Eighth Amendment,” according to Marks.
Frazier is scheduled to be executed for the 1991 rape and murder of Pauline Brown. Prosecutors claimed Frazier broke into Brown’s Birmingham apartment, raped her, and shot her in the back of the head.
In 2024, Alabama became the first state to execute three inmates using nitrogen gas. The method entails placing a respirator gas mask over the face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, resulting in death from a lack of oxygen.
Frazier’s lawyers cited descriptions of the state’s first three nitrogen executions to argue that the method results in conscious suffocation rather than the quick death promised.
Dr. Brian McAlary, an anesthesiologist who witnessed Carey Dale Grayson’s execution in November, testified that the prisoner showed clear “evidence of distress” and appeared conscious for up to three minutes.
Media witnesses, including The Associated Press, described how the men shook on the gurney as their executions began.
Marks determined that the descriptions do not support the conclusion that any of the men “experienced severe psychological pain or distress over and above what is inherent in any execution.” The state has maintained that the inmates’ movements were either involuntary or faked.
The judge did, however, note that depriving an inmate of oxygen while conscious may be unconstitutional.
“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 reported.
Frazier had previously been convicted in Michigan for the 1992 murder of a 14-year-old girl. He was sentenced to life in prison. Michigan does not have a death penalty.
Frazier’s mother made a last-minute appeal to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to intervene and request that Frazier be returned to Michigan to serve his life sentence rather than being executed in Alabama.
“Please get my son back to Michigan. Carol Frazier wrote to Whitmer, “Please don’t let Alabama kill my son if you can stop it.”
Whitmer’s office declined to comment on the request.
