The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request by Alabama to allow it to execute a death row inmate by lethal injection.
The inmate, Kenneth Smith, was convicted of murdering his wife in 1988. He has argued in court that lethal injection would cause him pain. The state has suggested the use of nitrogen gas, which has not been tested in the United States. The Supreme Court's decision leaves in place a lower court ruling that the prisoner's preferred method must be followed. The case is the latest in a series of challenges to Alabama's execution procedures.