USA · updated 15m ago · 2 min read
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee Halts Executions After Christa Gail Pike Survives Lethal Injection Attempt
Christa Pike survived two lethal injections and was hospitalized for treatment. Governor Bill Lee halted the remaining executions and ordered an independent investigation.
Whether to emphasise abolition or unresolved technical cause.
9 of 11 outlets skipped it: second failed execution in Tennessee earlier this year involved failure to find a vein.
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Same story, two versions
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Al Jazeera
“Human rights experts said the botched execution illustrates why the death penalty is inhumane and should be abolished.”Read the original ↗
BBC
“Authorities have yet to provide their explanation of why the dosage given to Pike proved to be non-fatal,”Read the original ↗
Al Jazeera foregrounds abolitionist human-rights arguments. The BBC foregrounds medical uncertainty and what happens next.
Botched lethal injection
Christa Gail Pike, 50, survived an attempted execution in Tennessee after officials administered two doses of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville and witnesses said she appeared to still be breathing.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered an investigation and a temporary halt to scheduled executions after Pike was sent to a nearby hospital in an unknown condition, and Lee said, "I have ordered a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred."
Witnesses told ABC Nashville affiliate WKRN that authorities appeared to administer two rounds of lethal pentobarbitol but that the convicted murderer appeared to still be breathing an hour later when witnesses were escorted out of the chamber.
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed in a 6-3 decision, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that, "The Court grants such extraordinary relief solely to allow the State to execute Pike before litigation over her conviction has properly run its course."
Court fights and voices
Attorneys for Pike with the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender said she was being treated at a nearby hospital and that they had not been informed of her condition, and they said, "Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution."
Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said what Pike experienced is "singular and unparalleled," after media witnesses reported Pike remained alive and loudly snoring behind closed curtains.
Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN special rapporteur on arbitrary executions, told the UK’s Times newspaper that, "If executed, Christa Pike would be a victim of torture to death."
Pike’s legal team argued that the state’s protocol was opaque and that the concerns raised by Ms. Pike proved to be true, including "difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available" and a protocol "veiled in secrecy."
What comes next
Tennessee officials were unable to put Pike to death after administering two doses of a lethal drug, and Gov. Bill Lee halted the one remaining execution for the rest of the year while ordering a comprehensive, third-party review.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said it followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office, and the state said the protocol calls for a secondary set of drug syringes "if the inmate is not deceased" after the first set.
BBC reporting said the state protocol does not clearly specify what should happen if an inmate remains alive after a second dose, and it quoted Dr Joel Zivot saying it was "very possible" Pike "probably never achieved a sufficient blood level of pentobarbital" to cause apnoea and cardiovascular failure.B
Amnesty International criticized the death penalty after the episode, stating, "the failed attempt to execute Christa Pike demonstrates why the death penalty is, in fact, the cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment par excellence," while the Tennessee authorities defended their conduct by asserting they strictly followed the legal protocols established and approved by the Office of the Attorney General.