The U.S. Supreme Court declined to dismantle an Alabama lower-court ruling that found death by nitrogen gas is unconstitutionally cruel and issued a brief unsigned order this week.
As a result, Jeffrey Lee, 49, has been spared what would have been the nation’s ninth execution by nitrogen gas.
U.S. District Judge Emily Marks ruled the method constitutional in May; however, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed her decision Monday while stating that the time it could take for an inmate to lose awareness is an “intolerable” time frame “given the suffering that would likely take place under Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia protocol.”
The state is not blocked from executing Lee by electric chair or lethal injection, which are approved methods in Alabama.
The nation’s highest court voted 6-to-3 not to lift an injunction blocking Alabama from carrying out the execution, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissenting.
Lee’s attorneys said in a statement that his jury had voted for a sentence of life in prison, which a judge overruled.
“Two courts ruled the method unconstitutional. Today, the Constitution prevailed,” the lawyers said. “Now Governor Ivey can finish what the jury started: restore the jury’s verdict of life without parole.”
Lee was convicted of two counts of capital murder for killing Ellis and Thompson while robbing a pawnshop on Dec. 12, 1998.
Lee entered Jimmy’s Pawnshop with a sawed-off shotgun and shot Jimmy Ellis, the owner, and his employee Elaine Thompson, according to prosecutors.
He is detained at William Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
“The State is prepared to do whatever is necessary to see Mr. Lee’s lawful sentence carried out,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement.
"Tonight’s ruling is a miscarriage of justice, not for us, but for Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, who Jeffery Lee brutally and senselessly murdered and left on the floor of their place of business. Tonight I am also keeping their families in mind, many of whom were prepared to witness the final act of justice be served.”
Lee’s lawyers asked the high court to keep the execution on hold, saying in a response that Alabama was asking it to intervene at the eleventh hour “to allow an execution that has been found unconstitutional to proceed.”
Although the high court decision blocks Lee’s execution in the immediate future, the state maintains that the nitrogen method is constitutional and it is unclear how long the pause will last.