Tennessee Court Orders Evidence Preserved After Failed Execution

A Tennessee judge has ordered the state to preserve evidence from the failed execution of Christa Pike, whose lawyers say she survived two lethal injections and later woke in hospital confused and seriously ill. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and killing of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She survived the execution attempt on September 30 after receiving two doses of pentobarbital, according to BBC News and DW.

Her lawyers say she is the only known person to have survived an execution by lethal injection. Attorney Randy Spivey said Pike began speaking on Tuesday after lawyers had believed for days that she might be brain dead or removed from life support. He said her first questions were “Where am I?” and “Who are you?” She recalls only limited details of the attempt, according to the BBC.

Spivey described her as “angry and confused” and said she was aware of what had happened. He said both of her arms and hands were tremendously swollen and that it was not known how much function she would recover. The BBC reported that Pike also had a blood clot in one arm, pneumonia and difficulty swallowing.

Her legal team has suggested that the problem may have involved the intravenous line. Experts cited by DW said the drug could have pooled in tissue rather than entering the bloodstream if the line was incorrectly positioned or a vein had failed. Pike’s lawyers said her arms were burned and blistered by the injection, but the supplied reports do not include an official finding on the cause of the failure.

At an emergency hearing, the lawyers asked the court to ensure the preservation of all material from the execution. Judge Chancellor I’Ashea Myles ordered that items from the execution room, including IV lines and syringes, be retained, along with waste materials such as packaging, inserts and labels. She also sought records about Pike’s psychological condition before, during and after the attempt.

The evidence could support a future lawsuit against Tennessee, according to the legal team. Lawyer Luke Ihnen said communications with Pike had been difficult while she was unconscious and asked for phone access and continuing access for her lawyers. He also said prison officials had kept her shackled to the hospital bed despite requests from medical staff that the restraints be removed.

Pike’s lawyers are asking Governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life imprisonment and never authorise another execution attempt. Lee rejected a clemency appeal two days before the failed execution. When asked whether the state planned to reschedule the execution, a Tennessee assistant attorney general said he did not know.

Lee has ordered a pause in executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year while the state seeks answers. The state’s prisons chief is resigning after the incident. The reports do not establish whether Pike will recover fully, whether the state will pursue another execution or what the court’s eventual findings will be.