Death Penalty News

Singapore will not alter its capital punishment laws, maintaining that the death penalty is a crucial deterrent against drug offences, its Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said.  Speaking at a media roundtable during the 17th Malaysian Journalists' visit programme organised by Singapore's Digital Development and Information Ministry, Balakrishnan said the punishment remains in place with strong public support despite international pressure and human rights concerns.  "There is no change to the law," he said, stressing that drug trafficking presents a clear and present threat. 

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness  Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died.  Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections.  Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.”  “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.” 

A Louisiana man who spent nearly 30 years on death row walked out of prison Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction and granted him bail. Jimmie Duncan, now in his 60s, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a case long clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His release comes months after a state judge ruled that the evidence prosecutors used to secure the conviction was unreliable and rooted in discredited bite-mark analysis.

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community. The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 26, 2025: Ali Eftekhari, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Neishabur Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Neishabur Prison on 25 November 2025. His identity has been established as Ali Eftekhari, a Neishabur native.   He was arrested around three years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 26: Divorce rates in Kuwait are rising, with recent statistics indicating that addiction—particularly among wives—has become a significant contributing factor. In response, authorities are preparing to introduce surprise premarital drug testing as part of a broader set of reforms under Kuwait’s new drug law. The countdown has officially begun for the enforcement of this new legislation, which was drafted by a judicial committee formed by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef. The committee is headed by Counselor Mohammed Rashid Al-Duaij.

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 22, 2025: Karvan Abdolaziz, an Iraqi national, Yahya Karami, Saman Abbasi, Akbar Faraji and Moslem Naderi were executed for drug-related offences in a group hanging in Isfahan Central Prison. At least 11 Iraqi nationals are currently on death row for drug-related offences at the prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, five men were hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 18 November 2025. Their identities have been established as Karvan Abdolaziz, an Iraqi national, Yahya Karami, a 47-year-old father of two from Aligudarz, 31-year-old Saman Abbasi from Khorramabad, Akbar Faraji and 36-year-old Moslem Naderi

For years, there was a broad consensus in Israel that there was no benefit to reintroducing the death penalty. But now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is reportedly considering supporting a bill which would bring back capital punishment for convicted terrorists. The bill, which has passed its first reading in the Knesset, would introduce the death penalty for those who murder Jews – specifically, Palestinian terrorists. It would not apply to Jews who commit acts of terrorism and murder Palestinians. And it would not apply if Israeli Arabs, who are full citizens, are murdered.

Mark Geralds has waived all pend­ing and future legal pro­ceed­ings in his case and is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed by Florida offi­cials on December 9, 2025. Mr. Geralds elect­ed to for­go his appeals just days after Governor Ron DeSantis signed his death war­rant, join­ing a doc­u­ment­ed group of death row pris­on­ers who have also decid­ed not to try and pre­vent their executions.

WEST JORDAN, Utah — A mental competency report prepared by a psychologist from Utah's Department of Health & Human Services has found that Ralph Leroy Menzies is incompetent to be executed by firing squad. A copy of the report, filed in West Jordan's 3rd District Court and obtained by FOX 13 News on Friday, declared that Menzies' dementia is so bad that he cannot be restored to any competency to be put to death. "This condition impacts Mr. Menzies' cognitive abilities such that he is unaware of the crime for which he is convicted, the parameters of the case (e.g., victim's identity, specifics acts he was found to have committed, etc.), the capital nature of the sentence he received, or how the punishment will be carried out," the Utah Department of Health & Human Services' evaluator, Dr. Michael Brooks, wrote.

The government is considering a compromise that would clear the way for completing legislation on a contentious bill enacting the death penalty for convicted terrorists, Channel 12 reports, without citing sources. The bill — sponsored by MK Limor Son Har-Melech of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party — passed its first reading in the Knesset last week and is now under discussion in the National Security Committee ahead of its final two votes. According to the report, the government has been divided over whether the death penalty should become the default, mandatory sentence for certain terror offenses, or whether there should be some degree of judicial and prosecutorial discretion.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 20, 2025: Mohsen Fakhrayi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Mashhad Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Mashhad (Vakil Abad) Central Prison on 19 November 2025. His identity has been established as Mohsen Fakhrayi, a 31-year-old father of three from Mashhad. He was arrested eleven years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

New Jersey’s highest court ruled Thursday that expert testimony about shaken baby syndrome is scientifically unreliable and inadmissible in two upcoming trials, a decision that comes as the long-held medical diagnoses have come under increased scrutiny. The New Jersey Supreme Court determined that a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, which is also known as abusive head trauma, is not generally accepted within the “biomechanical community” and is therefore not “sufficiently reliable” for admission at the trials.

Tremane Wood was sched­uled to die at 10 a.m. local time on November 13. According to jour­nal­ist Hilary Andersson , who trav­eled to Oklahoma to observe the exe­cu­tion, the call from the gov­er­nor came at 9:59 a.m. Mr. Wood learned that his life would be spared at the lit­er­al ​“last minute.” While Mr. Wood, his attor­neys, and his fam­i­ly expe­ri­enced over­whelm­ing relief in the after­math of the clemen­cy grant, accord­ing to Ms. Andersson, some also expressed shock at the tim­ing of the deci­sion. Mr. Wood’s son Brendan, an active-duty Army sol­dier, had dri­ven 18 hours from Fort Bragg to say good­bye to his father. 

IDF said to support the law but only if sentence handed down on case-by-case basis; Smotrich reportedly pushing for it to apply to Jews who spy for Iran as well In a major shift, Shin Bet Chief David Zini has informed the government that the security agency supports a controversial bill to enact the death penalty for terrorists, according to Hebrew media reports on Friday. Zini was said to have endorsed the legislation on the agency’s behalf at a security cabinet meeting on Thursday night. According to an unnamed source cited by Channel 12, during the meeting, Zini was asked by Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem if he believed the death penalty would deter would-be terrorists, to which he replied that it would.

Florida has executed a death row inmate for the "brutal and prolonged" rape and murder of a beloved convenience store manager who interrupted him during a robbery nearly 40 years ago.  Richard Barry Randolph, 63, was executed by lethal injection on Thursday, Nov. 20, for the 1988 murder of Minnie Ruth McCollum in the small Florida town of East Palatka. He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. ET. He declined to say any last words. Randolph became the 17th inmate executed in Florida this year − a record − and the 44th in the nation, a number that hasn't been seen since 2010.

A man convicted of raping and fatally beating his former manager at a Florida convenience store is set to be the 17th person executed in Florida this year STARKE, Fla. -- A man convicted of raping and fatally beating his former manager at a Florida convenience store in 1988 is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening. Richard Barry Randolph, 63, is set to receive a lethal injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Randolph was convicted of murder, armed robbery, sexual battery and grand theft and sentenced to death in 1989.

A death row inmate who was convicted of fatally shooting a U.S. airman and his girlfriend and later confessed to three other killings is now scheduled to die by lethal injection next month in Florida, under the terms of a death warrant signed Tuesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has authorized a record number of executions this year. Sixteen of the 43 executions that have taken place so far in the United States happened in Florida alone. Florida is set to execute Frank Athen Walls, 58, on Dec. 18 at Florida State Prison, according to the death warrant. Walls is the 19th person set for execution in Florida in 2025, with two other inmates scheduled to be put to death before the end of the year. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 18, 2025: Ahmad Navabi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Shiraz Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 13 November 2025. His identity has been established as 29-year-old Ahmad Navabi from Jahrom. He was arrested five years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 17, 2025: A woman named Ghomri Abbaszadeh was executed for the murder of her husband in Sari Central Prison. This is the 40th execution of a woman recorded in 2025 by IHRNGO and the highest recorded figure in more than two decades.  Of the recorded executions, 13 were for drug-related offences and 27 for murder, with 17 being convicted of murdering their spouses. At least one of the women was a child bride. Only two or 5% of the executions were reported by official sources, a marked decline in transparency.  In January, IHRNGO published a report titled “ Women and the Death Penalty: a Gendered Perspective ” which documented the discriminatory laws and societal factors that perpetuate the suffering and vulnerability of women on death row in Iran.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 14, 2025: Mozafar Rahmanpanah, a farmer on death row for an unintentional murder, was executed in Neishabur Prison after failing to pay the 5 billion tomans ($60,500) blood money. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Neishabur Prison on 11 November 2025. His identity has been established as 26-year-old Mozafar Rahman Panah, a farmer arrested for unintentionally killing a burglar around six years ago. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Saudi Arabia executed 345 people in 2024, rights groups say, double the rate of the past few years. The government in Riyadh, pictured, has rejected allegations of unfair trials and secret executions.  For a year, Mohamed Saad’s family had no idea whether he was alive or dead. The 28-year-old Egyptian fisherman had gone out on a routine trip off the coast of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and never returned. Relatives searched for months with no word from authorities. When they finally heard his voice, it was from a prison in Tabuk, northern Saudi Arabia, where Saad said he was being held on drug-smuggling charges. 

The 23-year-old man was charged with murder on Nov 15. A 23-year-old man asked to be given the death penalty after he was charged with the murder of a 68-year-old man at Laguna Park.  Police said they received calls for assistance at about 12.45pm on Nov 13 at 5000C Marine Parade Road.  The elderly man was found injured and taken unconscious to the hospital, where he later died.

The three white men were found guilty of murdering the 25-year-old Black man after chasing him in their trucks through a Georgia neighborhood. ATLANTA (CN) — The 11th Circuit on Friday upheld the convictions of the three white men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery five years ago after chasing the 25-year-old Black man down the streets of a Georgia subdivision. In a split opinion, the circuit judges ruled that sufficient evidence supported their convictions.

Sheikh Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death for 'crimes against humanity' committed during last year's anti-government agitation that led to the fall of her Awami League government. As Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal announced a death penalty for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the courtroom erupted into loud applause. Many people were seen clapping, smiling, and cheering inside the court, while some made a praying gesture. A few people were also seen crying. The applause lasted for a few seconds before the judges requested those present inside to maintain court decorum.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 10, 2025: Five men including four Kurdish minorities named Mohammadreza Badavi, Reza Molayi, Mehdi Hassani, Shamseddin (Shahab) Abbasi Kay and Havari Jahanara were executed for drug-related offences in Urmia Central Prison.  Three of the men were sentenced to death based on elme qazi (knowledge of the judge), a practice that violates basic due process by allowing a judge’s personal belief to replace evidence.

Tremane Wood was prepared to die by lethal injection. A minute before he was to be put to death, a call came in The signature at the bottom of the email about witnessing an execution said cheerfully: “Oklahoma Corrections. We Change Lives!” I had received the email three weeks earlier. It explained that I was being invited to participate in a lottery, from which five media representatives would be selected to witness the execution of Tremane Wood in the Oklahoma state penitentiary on 13 November. I had never heard of Wood, who had been convicted of the murder of Ronnie Wipf, 19, in 2002.

South Carolina executes killer who left bloody message, marking third firing-squad execution this year  A South Carolina man convicted of killing 3 people over 5 days more than 20 years ago was executed by a firing squad on Friday evening.  Stephen Bryant, 44, was executed for killing a man in his home and writing "catch me if u can" on the wall with the victim's blood. He was pronounced dead at 6:05 p.m. following a firing squad. Three prison employees, all with live ammunition, volunteered to carry out the execution. Bryant is the 3rd man this year to die by South Carolina's newest execution method. 

Veteran prosecutor Fern Smith convicted both Tremane Wood and Richard Glossip. She calls a judge in both cases a friend. From her perch on the witness stand, 81-year-old Fern Smith cast a flinty stare at the defense attorney standing before her. Once a veteran prosecutor at the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office, she wore a black chiffon scarf, gold earrings, and an obstinate air, her gray hair pulled back in a tight bun. She did not look at Richard Glossip, sitting across the Oklahoma City courtroom alongside his lawyers. Smith had last seen him more than two decades earlier, not long after convincing a jury to sentence him to die.

A man on death row in South Carolina is scheduled to be executed by firing squad COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A man in South Carolina is scheduled to be executed Friday by a firing squad, the third person to die by that method in the state this year. Three prison employees, all with live ammunition, have volunteered to carry out the execution of Stephen Bryant, 44, who killed three people in five days in a rural area of the state in 2004. Bryant has no appeals pending before the 6 p.m. scheduled execution at the death row facility at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.

The working group would include all stakeholders from those in the justice system, as well as non-governmental organisations. KUALA LUMPUR — The proposal for the total abolition of the death penalty will undergo further detailed study starting January next year, says M. Kulasegaran. The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department stated that the government was in the process of establishing a Policy and Direction Review Working Group on the Death Penalty in Malaysia, which would collaborate with the Malaysian Law Reform Committee (CLRC).

STARKE, Fla. -- A man convicted of the 1979 killing of a 6-year-old girl who was abducted from her bedroom was put to death Thursday evening in Florida's 16th execution this year. Bryan Frederick Jennings, 66, was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. after a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Jennings drew the death penalty for the murder of Rebecca Kunash, who was raped and drowned in a canal. When asked if he had a final statement, Jennings loudly said, "No." As the drugs were then administered, his chest heaved and his arms twitched for a few minutes. Then he lay still with his mouth open.

Republican Kevin Stitt commuted Tremane Wood’s death sentence to life in prison for 2002 murder of Ronnie Wipf Tremane Wood, the 46-year-old death row inmate who faced execution today in Oklahoma, has had his life spared just minutes before he was set to receive a lethal injection. Kevin Stitt, the state’s Republican governor, accepted the Oklahoma pardon and parole board’s recommendation that Wood’s sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole. It is just the second time during Stitt’s nearly seven years as governor that he has granted clemency.

Tremane Wood was convicted of a murder his brother had confessed to. Now a Republican governor will decide whether he dies on Thursday It may be about to execute him, but Oklahoma’s department of corrections hasn’t even spelled Tremane Wood’s name right: it lists him on its official website as “Termane” Wood. For 16 of his last 21 years in prison, following his conviction for the murder of 19-year-old Ronnie Wipf, he has been confined, often alone, to a series of windowless concrete cells in the state penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, in an underground block that prisoners have compared to a tomb.

ALGIERS , Nov. 12 (DPN) — Franco-Algerian novelist and dissident Boualem Sansal was released from prison on Tuesday after a personal intervention by Germany’s president , bringing to an end nearly a year of detention that had strained Algeria’s relations with Europe . Sansal, 81, a longtime critic of Algeria’s ruling establishment , had been arrested in November 2024 and sentenced to five years in prison on national security charges that human rights organizations denounced as politically motivated. Observers described his trial as arbitrary and lacking due process, with lawyers and family members often denied access during his detention.

Relatives share with the Guardian final words of those killed amid ‘horrifying’ surge in capital punishment under Mohammed bin Salman’s rule In the city of Tabuk in the far north of Saudi Arabia, neon lights flicker on in an overcrowded ward of a prison marking the start of a new day. The prisoners are waiting. When the guards enter, they know someone is about to be taken away. An execution squad of about 20 guards will approach an inmate quietly, whisper something in their ear and escort them out. Some break down in tears, others simply ask for forgiveness.

Mark Allen Geralds, 58, was convicted in the 1989 murder of Tressa Pettibone in Panama City Beach. He is scheduled for lethal injection on Dec. 9. Mark Allen Geralds has decided against fighting his scheduled Dec. 9 execution in the 1989 murder of a woman in Bay County — the second time in less than two months that a condemned killer has taken the unusual step of waiving final legal appeals. Bay County Circuit Judge Timothy Register on Monday issued an order that granted Geralds' request to waive what is typically a flurry of legal proceedings after death warrants are signed. The order came three days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for Geralds.

Israel’s parliament on Monday approved a bill in its first reading that would allow the death penalty for terrorists, a measure pushed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and aimed largely at Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis. The bill passed 39-16 and requires two more readings. A bill proposing the death penalty for terrorists passed a first reading in Israel's parliament on Monday – a measure that could apply to Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.

Harold Nichols is scheduled to die in December for raping and murdering a student Harold Wayne Nichols, a death row inmate in Tennessee, has declined to select his preferred execution method for his scheduled December 11 death. That means that the state will proceed with lethal injection. Nichols received his death sentence in 1990 after being found guilty of the rape and murder of Karen Pulley, a 21-year-old student at Chattanooga State University, which occurred two years prior.

A new report finds that five of the 15 people executed in Florida this year were military veterans. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending his modern-era record for executions this year, saying he is bringing justice to the families of victims. But a new report reveals some troubling data: Five of the 15 convicted murderers executed this year in Florida were military veterans.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 6, 2025: Hossein Ali Montazeri, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Semnan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Semnan Central Prison on 27 October 2025. His identity has been established as Hossein Ali Montazeri from Pakdasht. He was sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 7, 2025: At least 217 people were executed in October 2025, including six women, 11 Afghan nationals, 11 Arabs, eight Baluch and 8 Kurdish minorities. This figure is double that of the 84 executions recorded in September 2024. This is the highest monthly execution figure recorded in at least 25 years.  In the first ten months of 2025, at least 1,271 people have been executed.

Two British drug convicts, including a grandmother who had been on death row in Indonesia for more than a decade, arrived back in the UK on Friday. Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, but has moved to release more than half a dozen high-profile detainees in the last year. Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was sentenced to death on the tourist island of Bali in 2013 for smuggling $2.14 million worth of cocaine into Indonesia. She was released on humanitarian grounds along with Shahab Shahabadi, 36, who had been serving a life sentence for drug offences after his arrest in 2014.

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester.  Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Dubbed the “Twitter Killer”, Takahiro Shiraishi trawled social media for posts by suicidal young women and lured them to his apartment outside Tokyo. Before being caught in 2017, he had murdered nine people, including three teenage girls, who he also raped and mutilated. His Twitter handle loosely translated as “hangman”.

Lindsay Sandiford, 69, will be handed a UK-funded seat on a flight leaving Bali this afternoon. She was sentenced to death in 2013 after being caught smuggling £1.6million of cocaine into Indonesia. The 69-year-old pensioner has been granted a UK-funded seat on a flight leaving Bali this afternoon. The legal secretary, who was sentenced to death in 2013, will have a brief layover before landing at London Heathrow Airport following a 20-hour journey. This marks the end of a distressing period for Sandiford, during which she spent 13 years awaiting execution for smuggling £1.6million worth of cocaine into Indonesia.

A court in northeast Syria has sentenced a man to death by hanging after finding him guilty of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl. Youssef al-Dahham, 25, was convicted of raping and murdering the child in the village of Muhkan in Deir az-Zour governorate. Security forces announced on 13 August the arrest of Dahham, who reportedly confessed to the crime after interrogation. The crime dates back to August, when Dahham snatched the girl outside her home, raped and murdered her.

On Veterans Day, the Death Penalty Information Center will release a new report about vet­er­ans and the death penal­ty, explor­ing the last­ing effects of mil­i­tary ser­vice and explain­ing why mil­i­tary expe­ri­ences mat­ter when vet­er­ans inter­act with the legal sys­tem. This arti­cle tells the sto­ry of Navy vet­er­an David Hosier who was sen­tenced to death with­out a jury ever learn­ing about his men­tal health strug­gles, hon­or­able mil­i­tary ser­vice, and childhood tragedy.

On October 23, 2025, Alabama exe­cut­ed Anthony Boyd, despite his unwa­ver­ing claim of inno­cence and a fiery dis­sent authored by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, renew­ing the seri­ous con­cerns that have been con­sis­tent­ly raised about the state’s use of nitro­gen gas. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, dis­sent­ed from the Court’s October 23, 2025, denial of a stay of exe­cu­tion, writ­ing that Alabama’s use of nitro­gen gas ​“vio­lates the Constitution by inflict­ing unnec­es­sary suf­fer­ing[.]” Justice Sotomayor not­ed sev­en peo­ple have been exe­cut­ed by nitro­gen gas since the January 2024 exe­cu­tion of Kenneth Smith , and argued that the Court should have pre­vent­ed Mr. Boyd from becom­ing the eighth.