MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Alabama could be ready to use a new, untried execution method called nitrogen hypoxia to carry out a death sentence later this month, a state attorney told a federal judge Monday.
James Houts, a deputy state attorney general, told U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. that it is “very likely” the method will be available for the execution of Alan Eugene Miller, currently set for Sept. 22 by lethal injection.
The final decision on whether to use the new method is up to Corrections Commissioner John Hamm, he said, and litigation is likely.
Nitrogen hypoxia, which is supposed to cause death by replacing oxygen with nitrogen, has been authorized by Alabama and two other states for executions but never used….