{"id":11296,"date":"2025-03-20T14:50:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T21:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11296"},"modified":"2025-03-20T14:50:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T21:50:49","slug":"louisiana-nitrogen-execution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11296","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana Nitrogen Execution"},"content":{"rendered":"

AP has this report<\/a> by Sara Cline on Tuesday’s execution via nitrogen gas in Louisiana.<\/p>\n

Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, authorities said, adding the nitrogen gas had flowed for 19 minutes during what one official characterized as a \u201cflawless\u201d execution.<\/p>\n

Witnesses to the execution said Hoffman appeared to involuntarily shake or had \u201csome convulsive activity.\u201d But the three witnesses who spoke \u2014 including two members of the media \u2014 agreed that, based on the protocol and what they learned about the execution method, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.<\/p>\n

Witness Gina Swanson, a reporter with WDSU, described the execution from her viewpoint as \u201cclinical\u201d and \u201cprocedural.\u201d She said there was nothing that occurred during the process that made her think, \u201cWas that right? Was that how it was supposed to go?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In their desperate efforts to make methods of execution sound cruel and painful, regardless of what method is used, opponents regularly cite movements as evidence that the murderer is in extreme pain. But they are not. Death is not pretty, and involuntary muscle contractions sometimes happen after a person has lost consciousness.<\/p>\n

In the modern era of capital punishment (1977-present), how many murderers have suffered more pain in execution than the victim suffered in the crime? None, to my knowledge. Here are the facts of this case, from the opinion on appeal in 2000 (768 So. 2d 542):<\/p>\n

Evidence introduced at trial showed that Jessie Hoffman kidnaped Ms. Elliot at gunpoint, in her own car, as she was leaving the Sheraton parking garage after a long day at work. Hoffman then forced Ms. Elliot, at gunpoint, to drive to an ATM machine to withdraw money from her account so that he could rob her. The ATM video tape shows the terror on Ms. Elliot’s face as she withdrew money from her account, and Hoffman can be seen standing next to his victim. Two hundred dollars were withdrawn from the ATM, and a statement from Hoffman’s girlfriend indicated that she and Hoffman went shopping soon thereafter, and that Hoffman paid cash for several items.<\/p>\n

Hoffman did not leave Ms. Elliot at the ATM machine after he had already caused the most horrific night of her life, by both kidnaping and robbing her at gunpoint. Instead, he forced her, still at gunpoint, to drive with him to a remote area of St. Tammany Parish. Ms. Elliot often begged Hoffman not to hurt her, and he answered that he would not because she was cooperating. Hoffman even said that Ms. Elliot “offered herself” while begging him not to hurt her. Hoffman, still armed with a handgun, then had sexual intercourse with his victim at a secluded, desolate area of St. Tammany Parish where he had forced her to drive. The jury did not believe Hoffman’s contention, that the sex he had with Ms. Elliot, while Hoffman was armed with a handgun, in the back of Ms. Elliot’s own car, was consensual, and found aggravated rape as an aggravating circumstance.<\/p>\n

Even after kidnaping, robbing, and raping Ms. Elliot, all of which were done at gunpoint, Hoffman did not allow her to leave. Instead, he forced her, still at gunpoint, while she was still completely nude subsequent to her rape, to get out of her car and march down a dirt path which was overgrown with vegetation and in an area full of trash used as a dump. Her death march ultimately ended at a small, makeshift dock at the end of this path, where she was forced to kneel and shot in the head, execution style. Ms. Elliot likely survived for a few minutes after being shot, but she was left on the dock, completely nude on a cold November evening, to die.<\/p>\n

After kidnaping, robbing, raping, and shooting Ms. Elliot, Hoffman disposed of her belongings and his gun, then returned to work. Hoffman’s “lunch hour,” as he told his managers he would be taking, lasted approximately two and one-half hours.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AP has this report by Sara Cline on Tuesday’s execution via nitrogen gas in Louisiana. Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, authorities said, adding the nitrogen gas had flowed for 19 minutes during what one official characterized as a \u201cflawless\u201d execution. Witnesses to the execution said Hoffman appeared to involuntarily shake or had \u201csome convulsive activity.\u201d But the three witnesses who spoke \u2014 including two members of the media \u2014 agreed that, based on the protocol and what they learned about the execution method, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-death-penalty"],"yoast_head":"\nLouisiana Nitrogen Execution - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11296\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Louisiana Nitrogen Execution - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AP has this report by Sara Cline on Tuesday’s execution via nitrogen gas in Louisiana. 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