Crimeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Christa Pike Asks Where Am I After Tennessee Failed Execution, Lawyer Randy Spivey Says
Christa Pike survived a botched lethal-injection execution and was hospitalized in critical condition. She developed pneumonia, a blood clot, and cannot move her arms after awakening.
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Botched execution, then waking
Christa Pike asked "Where am I and who are you?" after she regained consciousness following Tennessee's failed execution attempt, her attorney Randy Spivey said.
Pike, 50, had been hospitalized after the state administered two lethal doses of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Sept. 30, and her lawyers said she was believed to have been brain dead before she woke up.
Spivey said Pike was "angry and confused about everything right now" and that she was "very aware that the state tried to execute her."
Pike's lawyers said she has pneumonia and a blood clot in one of her arms, and they described her arms and hands as "tremendously swollen."
Court orders evidence preserved
Chancellor I'Ashea Myles ordered Tennessee officials to preserve evidence from the failed execution, directing the state "not to lose, misplace, accidentally delete, any information that may be pertinent to this litigation." Myles said the preservation order covered "drugs, IV lines, needles, catheters, medical supplies, restraints, gurneys" and also required the state to preserve waste such as packing supplies and labels.
Luke Ihnen told reporters that "The state has made no promises that Miss Pike will not be subject to our future execution," and he said the evidence being sought was relevant for any future challenge. Pike's attorneys said the emergency motion sought to preserve "all relevant physical, written and electronic evidence" of the botched execution, and they argued the state inflicted "a cruel and unusual punishment" through deliberate indifference to her medical needs.
Legal and political fallout
Governor Bill Lee suspended all executions for the rest of the year while investigators look into the botched executions of Pike and of Tony Carruthers in May, Reuters reported. Reuters said Pike remains shackled to her hospital bed and cannot swallow or eat, has pneumonia, cannot move her "tremendously swollen" hands or arms, and it is unclear if she will regain lost mobility.
Stephen Ross Johnson said state officials would face "severe legal hurdles" if they attempt to execute Pike by lethal injection again, and he said using a different method such as electric chair or hanging would present separate legal issues. Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said, "He is the reason we are seeing a record number of executions," linking execution volume to changes in Florida laws that lowered the legal threshold for capital punishment.