An attorney for an Alabama inmate set to be the nation's first person ever put to death by nitrogen gas asked a federal appeals court Friday to block the upcoming execution using the "untested methods."Kenneth Smith, 58, is scheduled to be executed Thursday, when a respirator-type mask will be put on his face to replace his breathing air with pure nitrogen — depriving him of the oxygen needed to stay alive.Three states — Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi — have authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, but no state has previously attempted to use it.
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