MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) 鈥� Alabama on Friday asked permission to execute a man by lethal injection after court rulings and cast doubt on the future of the state鈥檚 gas method.
The Alabama Attorney General鈥檚 office filed a motion asking the Alabama Supreme Court to authorize a death warrant for Jeffery Lee, this time using . The request came less than 24 hours after the state was thwarted in plans to use nitrogen to execute Lee, who was convicted of killing two people during a 1998 robbery.
鈥淚n sum, ADOC has not been barred from executing Lee, only from executing him by nitrogen hypoxia,鈥� state lawyers wrote.
A spokesperson for Lee鈥檚 legal team said they did not have an immediate comment on the action. The next step is for his attorneys to respond to the request at the Alabama Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday night refused to lift an injunction blocking the state from executing Lee with nitrogen gas. A district judge issued the injunction after finding the state鈥檚 nitrogen protocol violated the ban on cruel and unusual punishments established in the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. The injunction, however, did not block the state from using one of its other authorized methods, lethal injection or the electric chair, to put Lee to death.
A spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall declined to comment Friday, citing the pending litigation. Marshall on Thursday said he would 鈥渘ever stop seeking justice鈥� for Lee鈥檚 victims.
鈥淭he State is prepared to do whatever is necessary to see Mr. Lee鈥檚 lawful sentence carried out,鈥� Marshall said Thursday.
Rulings raise questions about nitrogen executions
The development came after a week of legal rulings that cast doubt on the future of , a method the state began using in 2024. It involves strapping a respirator to a person鈥檚 face and replacing breathable air with , causing death from lack of oxygen.
Lee filed a lawsuit in 2025 challenging the constitutionality of the state鈥檚 nitrogen protocol. U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks, after holding a three-day bench trial, initially ruled the method constitutional. However, a three-judge appellate panel on Monday reversed part of her conclusions and sent the case back. Marks issued a new finding Tuesday that the state鈥檚 execution protocol violates the Eighth Amendment and permanently enjoined the state from using it to execute Lee.
The state asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the injunction so Lee鈥檚 execution could go forward Thursday night. The court on Thursday declined to do so. The high court voted 6-3 and did not explain its reasoning. Three of the conservative justices 鈥� Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch 鈥� said they would grant Alabama鈥檚 request to lift the injunction and let the execution go forward.
The Supreme Court decision was only a ruling on Alabama鈥檚 emergency request to stay or lift the injunction. The court has not made a merits decision on the constitutionality of using nitrogen gas, said Robin Maher executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. However, Maher said there is now a very significant ruling by a district judge that 鈥渢his method, as Alabama has chosen to use it, is unconstitutional.鈥�
鈥淎nyone else who鈥檚 facing a potential execution in Alabama, in which the state intends to use nitrogen gas, will argue that the very same equities that resulted in Alabama being prohibited from using it in Mr. Lee鈥檚 case should also prohibit the state from using it in their case,鈥� Maher said.
Lee was convicted of two counts of capital murder for killing Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson while robbing a pawnshop on Dec. 12, 1998. Prosecutors said Lee entered Jimmy鈥檚 Pawnshop with a sawed-off shotgun and shot Ellis, the owner of the store, and Thompson, a store employee.
Future of nitrogen executions remain uncertain
Nitrogen has been used in eight executions in the United States 鈥� seven times in Alabama and once in Louisiana. Lee was scheduled to be the ninth.
Alabama could appeal the case back to the Supreme Court, which so far has never ruled a state鈥檚 execution method unconstitutional.
Deborah W. Denno, a professor at Fordham Law School, said it鈥檚 difficult to predict what will happen.
鈥淲hat seems pretty clear to me is that Alabama is going to have a very hard time carrying out a nitrogen hypoxia execution. It鈥檚 basically three courts telling you they can鈥檛 do that,鈥� Denno said.
The Alabama Supreme Court recently authorized a nitrogen execution for another Alabama inmate, Michael Taylor. His lawyers asked the court to recall the warrant in the wake of what happened with Lee鈥檚 case. His lawyers wrote they don鈥檛 suggest the Supreme Court’s 鈥渄enial of emergency relief constitutes a ruling on the merits of the State鈥檚 appeal鈥� but said the state shouldn’t move ahead for now.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
