Alabama seeks lethal injection execution for death row inmate after Supreme Court rejects nitrogen gas method
Updated on: June 12, 2026 / 8:06 PM EDT / CBS/AP
TL;DR
- Alabama Attorney General's office requested a death warrant for Jeffery Lee using lethal injection.
- The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the state from executing Lee by nitrogen gas, citing cruel and unusual punishment concerns.
- Lee was convicted in a 1998 double murder and store robbery, and his jury's recommendation for a life sentence was overruled by the judge.
- Alabama has defended its nitrogen gas protocol as humane but faces legal challenges set for trial in 2027.
- Lee's legal team has not yet commented on the state's new request.