Alabama's lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., is pictured in this Oct. 7, 2002 file photo. Alabama will be allowed to put an inmate to death with nitrogen gas, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, refusing to block what would be the nation’s first execution by a new method since 1982. Alabama says it plans to replace Eugene Smith's, 58, breathing air with nitrogen gas Thursday, Jan. 25, rendering him unconscious within seconds and killing him within minutes. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's first-ever use of nitrogen gas for an execution could gain traction among other states and change how the death penalty is carried out in the United States, much like lethal injection did more than 40 years ago, according to experts on capital punishment.