Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost promotes bill to start using nitrogen gas for executions

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio politicians have proposed gassing and suffocating death row inmates as a way to restart the state’s capital punishment system after Alabama executed a man by nitrogen hypoxia.

Ohio hasn't executed anyone since 2018. In 2020, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine declared lethal injection “no longer an option,” citing a federal judge’s ruling that the protocol could cause inmates “severe pain and needless suffering.”

Republican state Attorney General Dave Yost held a news conference Tuesday to discuss “next steps to kickstart” Ohio's capital punishment system.

Yost and state Reps. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) and Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) have introduced a bill to allow the state to start using nitrogen gas in capital punishment. The Republicans were joined by Lou Tobin with the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

"There are crimes that are so heinous, that are so against basic humanity, that they deserve the ultimate punishment," Yost said.

Thanks to Alabama’s latest execution method of nitrogen hypoxia, the group proposed that suffocation by gas is the best way to move the death penalty forward.

"Nitrogen is widely available commercially and, in fact, can be manufactured easily," the attorney general added.

According to Stewart, the bill will allow inmates on Death Row to choose if they would prefer to be executed by nitrogen gas or lethal injection, if available.

"However, the bill does say if lethal injection is not available, as has been claimed, the last five years, the nitrogen hypoxia shall be used," Stewart said.

The legislation would also protect drug manufacturers with a confidentiality clause — meaning they and the state wouldn't ever have to go public with who is providing the gas. If someone wants to expose their company for helping kill Ohioans, they could get a fourth-degree felony, which could put them in jail for a month.

Ohioans to Stop Executions' Allison Cohen says this is inhumane, proven by the 22-minute struggle the now-deceased inmate had in Alabama.

Kenneth Eugene Smith was put to death in Alabama on Thursday, marking the first time the method has been used for execution in U.S. history.

Smith's spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeff Hood, told News 5 parent company Scripps News it was the worst execution he's witnessed among the five he has been on hand for.

"They thought it was going to look peaceful, they thought that he would just simply fall asleep," Hood said. "They repeatedly said in their filings that we would see someone lose consciousness in a matter of seconds, and there is no doubt that is not what I saw last night, and that's not what happened."

Smith convulsed and rocked back and forth, Hood added.

"I don't think that anybody wins when somebody is executed and, frankly, tortured to death," Cohen said.

The death penalty draws out the legal process for victims' families, causing them to go to court year after year on appeals, she added.

"I think regardless of whether or not the family wants the death penalty, the process reopens the wound," she said.

This is why she is supporting two different bipartisan bills at the Statehouse, H.B. 259 and S.B. 101, that would end the death penalty.

News 5 has been covering the capital punishment debate for years, to hear how two families impacted by inmates on death row feel, click here.

"It's a life and we need to respect that," state Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) told News 5 back when introducing S.B. 101.

In a previous interview with News 5, Huffman explained he believes capital punishment is the same as murder.

"Representatives, Attorney General, all of you say that you are pro-life. How do you reckon with advocating for a new method for capital punishment?" asked Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau.

"Well, I've heard this talking point before, I think it's the worst talking point," Stewart responded.

The lawmaker proceeded to explain how an unborn child and a murderer are very different, and if someone can't tell that — "their moral compass is pretty faulty."

Yost also had a response.

"There's a difference between an innocent life and a guilty life that has received due process," the attorney general said.

Following the press conference, DeWine addressed the death penalty bill, after repeatedly saying he didn't know much about nitrogen hypoxia since there has only been one time the method has been used.

He then responded to a question of if he was a supporter of the death penalty:

"If you had 10 things to do to reduce crime, 10 things to save lives, the death penalty would probably not be on that top 10 list," DeWine said. "What we have as a situation is that the justification for the death penalty has been that it is a deterrent and that certainly is a very, very persuasive argument. But if you look at the average time it has taken between the actual offense and when the death penalty has been imposed... and actually carried out — it’s a long, long period of time, even the states that are pushing it as fast as they can. I think it does raise a serious question of whether or not is in fact a deterrent. I've made a decision, frankly, we have a lot of things to deal with in the state, a lot of very important issues. At this point, I'm just not going to comment beyond that."

Stewart seemed to insinuate that DeWine was not doing enough to access the lethal injection drugs, stating that Florida has been able to get them and use them throughout the past nearly six years. DeWine wouldn't respond to that claim.

Anticipating DeWine's view, Trau asked Stewart what would happen if DeWine vetoed the bill.

The lawmakers have "legislative options" if that happens, the Republican said with a smirk.

In the past week, the legislators have passed overrides on two of DeWine's vetoes — both the governor has said are "pro-life decisions" (vetoing a bill to take away life-saving gender-affirming care for transgender youth and vetoing a bill that would ban cities from regulating tobacco use to try to stop children from becoming addicted to nicotine).

More on opposition

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) felt there needs to be more research into this new method of execution.

“There is no humane form of execution in 2024,” said Antonio. “It is unfortunate that anyone would rush to the nearest camera to plead for the introduction of experimental methods to resume the barbaric practice. The state of Alabama has resurrected its death penalty procedures using nitrogen gas, a method so unconscionable that veterinarians reject its use to euthanize animals. Ohio should show moral leadership and reject the death penalty outright rather than fall in line with this misguided policy.”

Antonio was among the multiple legislators who introduced Senate Bill 101.

There have been 11 death row exonerees. Fifty-six people in Ohio have been executed by the state since 1981, meaning for every five executions that have taken place, one person has been exonerated.

RELATED: Controversial Ohio death penalty case sparks bipartisan call for reform

It also disproportionately impacts people of color. Capital defendants charged with killing a white victim in Ohio are twice as likely to receive a death sentence as those charged with killing a Black person, Ohioans To Stop Executions found.

Plus, it is incredibly expensive for the state. Ohio hasn't executed anyone since 2018, but it costs us hundreds of millions, according to data from the nonpartisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

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