Judge blocks upcoming lethal injection in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A U.S. judge on Monday blocked Alabama from executing an inmate who says the state lost his paperwork requesting an alternative to lethal injection.

U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker, Jr. issued a preliminary injunction to block the state from executing Alan Miller by any method other than nitrogen hypoxia. The ruling blocks Alabama from carrying out the lethal injection that had been set for Thursday.

Miller testified last week that he returned a state form selecting nitrogen on the same day it was distributed to inmates by a prison worker.

Alabama has not yet finalized procedures for using nitrogen to carry out death sentences.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.