Alabama inmate Alan Eugene Miller on Friday requested the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama block his scheduled nitrogen gas execution, which would be the second of its kind in US history.

In 2000, Miller was sentenced to death for the murder of three people. Alabama law lets death row inmates choose the method of death either by lethal injection or by nitrogen gas. In September 2022, Miller requested the nitrogen gas, but Alabama stated they never got the request and therefore determined he would receive lethal injection as the default. Miller lost his suit against the state of Alabama to be executed by nitrogen gas, and he then had his execution rescheduled after his lethal injection did not work.

The first nitrogen gas execution occurred less than six months ago on Kenneth Smith. The procedure did not go as planned, according to Miller’s lawyers. The team called the execution a “disaster” in Friday’s motion, stating, “Multiple eyewitnesses reported a horrific scene, where Mr. Smith writhed on the gurney and foamed at the mouth.” Based on Smith’s reaction to the nitrogen gas execution, Miller’s team argued that his “right to be free from cruel and unusual punishments” under the Eighth Amendment would be violated if Alabama does not execute under the following conditions:

(1) [U]sing a mask that fits Mr. Miller’s larger-than-average face and head, and creates an airtight seal; (2) using a qualified medical or scientific professional, rather than correctional officers, to place the mask on Mr. Miller’s face, and hold it in place if it becomes dislodged in any way; (3) using a qualified medical or scientific professional … to supervise the nitrogen flow rate during the execution; (4) having a medical professional present in the execution chamber during the execution attempt, who can respond if the execution goes awry as Mr. Smith’s did; (5) using medical grade nitrogen; and (6) using a sedative or tranquilizing medication in pill form before administering the nitrogen gas …

The motion therefore sought to block Miller’s execution until the state decides to follow those conditions by preliminary injunction.

Miller’s preliminary injunction can be granted only if Miller will “suffer irreparable harm” without it and if it will not “substantially harm” Alabama or harm the “public interest.” His team argued that the pain suffered from the execution would be irreparable and the “minimal delay” caused by the injunction would be an unsubstantial harm for Alabama. The motion also added that the public has an interest in ensuring that constitutional rights are not violated.

The nitrogen gas method of execution has been widely criticized by the UN and Amnesty International for being experimental and inherently cruel.