Alabama AG: Inmate didn’t suffer in aborted lethal injection

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama attorney general argued an inmate did not suffer unconstitutionally during an aborted lethal injection last year. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Kenneth Eugene Smith seeking to prevent the state from making a second attempt to put him to death. Smith was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Nov. 17 for the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett. Prison officials said they called off Smith’s execution after they were unable to establish IV access. The state argued that difficulty achieving intravenous access does not equate to cruel and unusual punishment