MONTGOMERY, Ala.—A judge has refused to stop the nation’s third scheduled execution by nitrogen gas that is set to take place in Alabama later this month.
U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. on Wednesday denied a preliminary injunction request to block Alabama from executing Carey Dale Grayson on Nov. 21 using the same nitrogen gas protocol. The judge said Grayson failed to meet the high legal burden of showing that he is likely to prevail on his claim that the method is unconstitutionally cruel.
“His evidence and allegations amount to speculation, a speculative parade of highly unlikely events, and scientific controversy at best. They fall well short of showing that the nitrogen hypoxia protocol creates an unacceptable risk of pain, let alone superadded pain,” Huffaker wrote….