Lawyer says Tennessee execution survivor remains unconscious in hospital

Christa Pike remains unconscious and on a ventilator four days after Tennessee officials failed to complete her execution, one of her lawyers said on Sunday. Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said he was not aware of Pike regaining consciousness since the execution attempt. Pike, 50, is being treated in a Tennessee hospital under guard while doctors work to remove the barbiturate pentobarbital from her system.

Her lawyers said her arms were burned and blistered by the drugs used during the procedure. Ferrell said doctors might not know for several more days whether she will recover or what the long-term consequences will be. Pike’s defence team has asked a court to require prison officials to preserve written records, communications, images and video connected to the execution.

The team has also called for greater disclosure about the state’s execution practices, including information that Tennessee typically keeps confidential. The execution attempt on Wednesday was delayed for more than eight hours while the U.S. Supreme Court considered an appeal.

The court ultimately overturned a federal appeals court decision that had halted the lethal injection to allow further review of whether the sentencing jury should have considered sexual abuse Pike said she experienced as a child. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an independent investigation by former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton.

The state’s corrections commissioner, Frank Strada, announced his resignation on Saturday. The incident was the second failed Tennessee execution this year, after the state stopped Tony Carruthers’ procedure in May because staff could not establish a secondary intravenous line. If Pike recovers, the consequences for her death-penalty case remain unclear.

Her lawyers have asked the governor to commute the sentence to life imprisonment.