Jessie Hoffman Jr., who was convicted of the 1996 murder of Mary Elliott in New Orleans, was executed by nitrogen hypoxia on 18 March. The execution took place at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in West Feliciana Parish. Hoffman was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. local time.

The execution marked the first time since 2010 that the state of Louisiana has put a man to death. Louisiana is one of only two US states to have used nitrogen gas as an execution method. A prison official described the execution as “flawless.” (NBC News)

Hoffman’s lawyers had asked a state district court judge for a temporary pause on the execution on the grounds that it violated their client’s constitutional rights. Namely, that it prevented him from practicing his Buddhist breathing techniques in the moments prior to death.

Hoffman converted to Buddhism in 2002, when he began using Buddhist breathing techniques to calm his anxiety. His lawyers argued that putting a mask on Hoffman’s face would deprive him of his right to religious practice because he would not have access to oxygen.

Accompanying Hoffman for his final hours was Rev. Reimoku Gregory Smith, a Buddhist priest in the Soto Zen lineage of Japanese Buddhism.

Hoffman’s attorney, Cecelia Kappel, asserted that the execution was “senseless” because her client “no longer bore any resemblance to the 18-year-old who killed Molly Elliott.” Kappel also stated that Hoffman “showed extraordinary capacity for redemption.” (NBC News)

Kappel, the director of the Center for Social Justice at Loyola University College of Law, went on to state:

His execution will cause lasting harm to many. Jessie’s son was a newborn at the time of his trial and has been raised by his father from death row. The prison staff who were forced to kill someone they have grown to care for and protect. And the citizens of Louisiana who have said not in my name. We are better than this. (NBC News)

State officials have been unable to obtain the lethal injection drug cocktail that was used in Louisiana’s previous execution in 2010. Consequently, Louisiana’s corrections secretary, Gary Westcott, chose nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative method. The associate director of the Center for Constitutional Rights Bill Quigley, a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans, noted: “The United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights has condemned the use of nitrogen gas in executions, saying its use could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment in violation of international human rights law.” (Common Dreams)

According to medical experts, if a small quantity of oxygen leaks into the mask during the administration of nitrogen, the result can be a slow death by asphyxiation.

At present, Louisiana has more than 50 people on death row.

In their statements before the Supreme Court, Hoffman’s lawyers argued for a temporary stay of execution:

The record evidence unrebutted by the State establishes that, in Buddhist tradition, meditative breathing at the time of death carries profound spiritual significance, founded in the core belief that meditation and unfettered breath at the time of transition from life to death determines the quality of rebirth. (NBC News)

In preparation for the execution, officials went to Alabama, the only other state to use the procedure, to study how its nitrogen system functions. Individuals who have witnessed nitrogen hypoxia executions in Alabama have reported inmates gasping for breath, and thrashing and shaking on the restraint gurney.

Attorney General, Liz Murrill, remarked: “Justice has been delayed for far too long. . . . I, along with the Louisiana Department of Justice, remain committed to ensuring justice is carried out in all death penalty cases in Louisiana.” (NBC News)

Andy Elliot, the husband of murder victim Mary Elliot, was quoted as saying that he felt indifferent toward the death penalty. “I’m not indifferent to the uncertainty that has accompanied these many years. If putting him to death is the easiest way to end the uncertainty, then on balance I favor that solution.” Elliot said, adding: “But his death will not provide closure. That pain cannot be decreased by another death, nor by commuting the sentence of Molly’s assailant to life in prison.”

On the day of his execution, Hoffman was holding his favorite book, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation (Harmony 1999) by Thich Nhat Hanh. He asked Ven. Reimoku to read a passage on the four immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.

See more

Louisiana Executes Man with Nitrogen Gas After 15-Year Pause (NBC News)
The Final Hours of Jessie Hoffman, Murdered by the State of Louisiana (Common Dreams)
US urged to halt first execution by nitrogen asphyxiation (United Nations)

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