Overview
- Chief U.S. District Judge Emily Marks rejected Boyd’s request to halt his Oct. 23 execution, finding he is unlikely to succeed on the merits and noting his lawsuit was filed too late.
- Boyd, 53, is set to die by nitrogen hypoxia using a gas mask during the evening of Oct. 23 or early hours of Oct. 24, which would be Alabama’s seventh execution by the method.
- His legal filings argued the state’s heavily redacted protocol and his asthma and vertigo pose unconstitutional risks, and he proposed alternatives including firing squad, hanging, and medical-aid-in-dying.
- The order recounted prior nitrogen executions, noting both sides acknowledge agonal breathing and involuntary movements occur, and stated the Constitution does not guarantee a painless death.
- Family members and advocates unveiled billboards in Talladega as Boyd phoned a news conference to assert innocence, while the Alabama Attorney General’s office defended the conviction and decades of litigation.