Execution of Alan Miller called off by officials hours after U.S. Supreme Court says it can proceed

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - The execution of 57-year-old Alan Miller was called off by Alabama Department of Corrections officials just hours after the United States Supreme Court ruled it could proceed.

In a press conference held after midnight, ADOC Commissioner John Hamm said they did start trying to access Miller’s veins for lethal injection, but the process was stopped after it was determined there wasn’t enough time to finish the execution protocols before the death warrant expired at midnight.

We’re told Miller is back in his cell at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility near Atmore.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey released the following statement after the cancellation of the execution was announced by officials:

“In Alabama, we are committed to law and order and upholding justice. Despite the circumstances that led to the cancellation of this execution, nothing will change the fact that a jury heard the evidence of this case and made a decision. It does not change the fact that Mr. Miller never disputed his crimes. And it does not change the fact that three families still grieve. We all know full well that Michael Holdbrooks, Terry Lee Jarvis and Christopher Scott Yancey did not choose to die by bullets to the chest. Tonight, my prayers are with the victims’ families and loved ones as they are forced to continue reliving the pain of their loss.”

An official with the governor’s office said ADOC Commissioner Hamm notified the families of the victims prior to updating media about the cancellation of the execution.

Governor Ivey says she expects the execution will be “reset at the earliest opportunity.”

Earlier this week, a U.S. judge blocked the state from executing Miller by any method other than nitrogen hypoxia. This decision came after Miller claimed the state lost paperwork requesting an alternative to lethal injection.

The state of Alabama appealed that order. The case was sent to the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday for a decision. The court said Thursday evening that Miller can be executed by lethal injection.

Miller was found guilty and sentenced to death in a 1999 workplace shooting that killed three men.

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