The prisoner who appeared to have been awake during the execution

The prisoner who appeared to have been awake during the execution

resume executions. Arizona halted executions after the July 2014 lethal injection of convicted killer Joseph Rudolph Wood, who took nearly two hours to die. Smith and other Alabama inmates argued in a court case that the drug was an unreliable sedative and could cause them to feel pain, citing its use in problematic executions.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a challenge by Oklahoma death row inmates that they had failed to prove that the use of midazolam was unconstitutional.  Robert Dunham is executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that does not take an official stance on capital punishment but is critical of its application. He said Smith's execution reinforces the argument that midazolam shouldn't be used in executions. 

'What occurred during the execution itself is exactly what the medical experts have been saying is likely to occur when midazolam is asked to do something that drug is not designed to do,' he said. 'It is not designed to render somebody unconscious and insensate.' At the beginning of his execution, Smith heaved and coughed repeatedly, clenching his fists and raising his head.

A prison guard performed two consciousness checks on Smith Thursday before the final two lethal drugs were administered. In a consciousness test, a prison officer says the inmate's name, brushes his eyelashes and then pinches his left arm. During the first one, Smith moved his arm. He slightly raised his right hand after the second consciousness test.

The meaning of those movements will likely be debated. One of Smith's attorneys whispered to another attorney, 'He's reacting,' and pointed out the inmate's repeated movements. The state prison commissioner said he did not see any reaction to the consciousness tests.  'We do know we followed our protocol.

We are absolutely convinced of that,' Alabama Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said Thursday evening. When asked if the movements indicated there was a problem with the execution, Dunn said: 'There will be an autopsy that will be done on Mr Smith and if there were any irregularities those will hopefully be shown or borne out in the autopsy. I think the question is probably better left to the medical experts.' Dunn declined to say whether Smith was given an additional dose of midazolam after the first consciousness test.