A death row inmate slated to become the first person to be put to death by nitrogen gas in Louisiana is seeking to halt the execution, citing constitutional concerns over the controversial killing method.

Jessie Hoffman is set to be executed March 18, but his attorneys are asking a judge for a preliminary injunction to prevent it due to the secrecy of how the execution will be carried out.

The inmate will present his arguments during a hearing on Friday, during which he is expected to testify.

Hoffman was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1996 rape and murder of 28-year-old Mary “Molly” Elliot.

Hoffman’s lawyers say that he was informed Feb. 20 that he will be killed using nitrogen gas, but state officials have not yet provided a detailed execution protocol, which the lawyers say is necessary to meet his constitutional rights.

“The State wants to roll out this new gas protocol but keep it hidden from the public and even from the man they seek to kill,” Samantha Kennedy, executive director of the Promise of Justice Initiative, who is representing Hoffman, told NewsNation.

"Jessie Hoffman has a right to know how he's going to be killed, and we have a right as his attorneys to be able to determine if it's going to be a constitutional."

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has defended the........

© The Hill