MONTGOMERY, Ala.—The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday rejected the appeal of a death row inmate who is scheduled to be the first person put to death with nitrogen gas and had argued that he shouldn’t face execution after a previous attempt at a lethal injection failed.
Justices without dissent rejected arguments that a second attempt to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith would violate federal and state bans on cruel and unusual punishment. A circuit judge had previously rejected Mr. Smith’s argument, and the decision was upheld by a state appellate court. State justices declined to review the decision.
