Execution of Jessie Hoffman Jr. approved by 5th Circuit

(The Center Square) − The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has overturned a lower court’s injunction, paving the way for the execution of Jessie Hoffman Jr., a convicted killer and rapist, scheduled for Tuesday, March 18, at Angola State Penitentiary. The ruling came in response to an appeal from Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office, which sought to uphold the state’s use of nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method. Hoffman was sentenced to death in 1998 for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Mary “Molly” Elliot. After exhausting all appeals and post-conviction remedies, his execution was delayed due to unavailable lethal injection drugs—until Louisiana adopted nitrogen hypoxia in 2024.The Middle District of Louisiana had issued a preliminary injunction, arguing that this method violated the Eighth Amendment. However, the 5th Circuit disagreed. “This is justice for Mary ‘Molly’ Elliot, her friends, her family, and for Louisiana,” Murrill said in a news release following the decision. The 5th Circuit’s ruling criticized the lower court’s reasoning, stating, “[t]he preliminary injunction is not just wrong. “It gets the Constitution backwards, because it’s premised on the odd notion that the Eighth Amendment somehow requires Louisiana to use an admittedly more painful method of execution — namely, execution by firing squad rather than by nitrogen hypoxia. That can’t be right. Indeed, it contravenes Supreme Court precedent. We accordingly vacate the preliminary injunction.” Hoffman had argued for execution by firing squad, claiming nitrogen hypoxia posed a risk of severe pain. However, the court noted expert testimony confirming that nitrogen hypoxia “does not cause physical pain,” rendering unconsciousness in less than a minute and death within 10 to 15 minutes. The decision marks the end of Hoffman’s legal challenges, ensuring Louisiana can proceed with its first execution by nitrogen hypoxia, a method already used successfully four times in Alabama.