Jessie Hoffman Jr. is currently scheduled to be executed on March 18
A death row inmate in Louisiana has become the latest prisoner to try and stop his execution from happening.
Yesterday, South Carolina witnessed a historic moment in its criminal justice system as Brad Sigmon became the first person to be executed by firing squad in the state’s history.
At 67, Sigmon had been on death row for nearly two decades after being convicted of brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 2001. He beat them to death with a baseball bat, a crime that shocked the community.
Despite his lengthy time on death row, Sigmon’s legal team made one final attempt last month to prevent his execution, but their efforts proved unsuccessful.
Sigmon’s lawyers argued that he was ‘forced’ into choosing the firing squad method, claiming he wasn’t provided sufficient details about the alternative — lethal injection. However, despite these last-minute appeals, their efforts fell short, and Sigmon was executed as originally scheduled.
Now, another execution looms on the horizon. Jessie Hoffman Jr., currently incarcerated in Louisiana, has been scheduled for execution on March 18 for the 1996 murder of Molly Elliott. His fate now hangs in the balance as the date approaches.
As Jessie Hoffman Jr.’s execution date nears, he has filed a federal complaint and motion to block it, expressing serious concerns over the use of nitrogen hypoxia, as reported by Fox 8.
In his filing, Hoffman argues that Louisiana’s execution protocol is undisclosed and violates his constitutional rights. The state has allegedly refused to provide details about the controversial execution method, nitrogen hypoxia, which involves suffocating the inmate by forcing them to breathe pure nitrogen gas — a method still considered untested, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Louisiana, alongside Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, is one of the few states to authorize this method of execution. While Alabama has used it four times, Hoffman is set to become the first inmate in Louisiana to face this fate, which will also mark the state’s first execution in 15 years.
In response to Jessie Hoffman’s filing, his attorney, Cecelia Kappel, expressed grave concerns over Louisiana’s untested nitrogen gas protocol. In a statement, she said, “Louisiana’s nitrogen gas protocol is completely untested and no court has had a chance to review it. We haven’t even been able to see the full protocol ourselves, with Jessie’s execution set for just three weeks from now.”
However, Louisiana state officials have defended the protocol, claiming that it is nearly identical to the one used in Alabama, according to AP.
In addition to his legal challenges, Hoffman has filed a supplemental clemency application, seeking to have his execution postponed. This comes after nearly 30 years of being incarcerated on death row for the 1996 murder of Molly Elliott.
