Overview

• The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's injunction, allowing Louisiana to proceed with the nitrogen gas execution of Jessie Hoffman Jr.
• Hoffman, convicted of the 1996 murder of Mary Elliott, is scheduled to be executed on March 18 at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
• The nitrogen hypoxia method involves strapping the inmate to a gurney and administering pure nitrogen gas through a full-face respirator mask, a process similar to Alabama's protocol.
• Hoffman's attorneys argue the method constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, citing expert testimony likening its effects to drowning and reports of visible distress in previous executions using this method in Alabama.
• The case may still reach the U.S. Supreme Court, as Hoffman's legal team seeks to halt the execution and further examine the constitutionality of nitrogen hypoxia.