A federal judge has halted the plan execution of a St. Tammany Parish killer this week, pending a hearing into Louisiana's plan to use nitrogen hypoxia for the execution.
Jesse Hoffman Jr. was to be the first person put to death in Louisiana in fifteen years.
On one side of the issue, groups like the Equal Justice Initiative call the punishment cruel and unusual, while lawmakers here and in other states like Alabama say it is fast and effective.
Dr. Mark Alain Dery, explains what happens when nitrogen gas is introduced to the body.
"It is a slow process of oxygen deprivation that results in major organ failure. For the brain, that is a stroke, for the heart it is an attack."
As for it being "quick and painless", Dery cites a case in Alabama where the state executed Kenneth Smith by nitrogen hypoxia.
"It took Smith over twenty minutes to die."
Twenty-two minutes to be exact. And, witnesses report he convulsed, gasped, and shook until he was pronounced dead.
The state of Louisiana plans to appeal the federal judge's decision in the matter of Jesse Hoffman Jr.
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