Kenneth Smith could be the first person executed with nitrogen gas. He spoke with NPR

Alabama has already tried once to execute Kenneth Smith. On the evening of Nov. 17, 2022, Smith lay on a gurney as workers tried for an hour to insert needles into the veins of his hand, arms and collarbone so they could put him to death by lethal injection. Just before midnight, the execution was called off.

Surviving an execution is uncommon. Only one other prisoner alive today has done it — a death row prisoner from Alabama who the state also failed to execute by lethal injection. But Smith's case is even more unusual. When the state tries to execute him again on Jan. 25, Alabama plans to use nitrogen gas. It will be the first time the gas has been used as an execution method in the U.S.

The method has come under scrutiny for safety and human rights reasons. NPR exclusively published a document that showed the Alabama Department of Corrections had required Smith's spiritual adviser, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, to sign a waiver acknowledging that the state believes he could be at risk of exposure to the gas. In January, the United Nations published a statement that declared U.N. experts were concerned the method could lead to grave suffering.

Smith, one of two men convicted in 1988 for a murder-for-hire killing, challenged the execution in state court. He and his lawyers claimed that a second execution attempt would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, since Smith already suffered from the trauma of the failed execution attempt. The Alabama Supreme Court rejected the appeal on Jan. 12.

Smith rarely speaks with journalists. But he called NPR investigative reporter Chiara Eisner from the prison last year on Dec. 7, where he's being housed in Atmore, Ala. He discussed what it was like to experience the failed execution, and how he felt about the prospect of undergoing another one, this time by gas.

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