Alabama seeks more nitrogen executions, despite concern over the method

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has asked the state Supreme Court to authorize another execution using nitrogen gas. The request comes months after the state became the first to put a person to death with the previously untested method. The attorney general’s office asked the court to authorize an execution date for Carey Dale Grayson, who was convicted in the 1994 killing of Vickie Deblieux in Jefferson County. An attorney for Grayson said there needs to be more scrutiny before the state uses nitrogen again for an execution. The state in January put Kenneth Smith to death in the nation’s first nitrogen gas execution. Smith convulsed in seizure-like spasms for more than two minutes.