A federal judge dismissed an inmate’s claim seeking to block his upcoming execution in Alabama because of reported problems during a recent lethal injection.
The judge on Sunday granted Alabama’s request to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Kenneth Eugene Smith, agreeing Smith waited too long to file the challenge.
But U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. also warned Alabama’s prison commissioner to strictly follow established protocol when officials attempt to put Smith to death next month.
Smith is set to be executed by lethal injection Nov. 17 after being convicted in the murder-for-hire killing of 45-year-old Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett.
Smith’s attorneys pointed to a July execution, which an anti-death penalty group claims was botched, to argue that Alabama’s lethal injection process creates a risk of cruel and unusual punishment.
