Tennessee faced growing calls on Tuesday to halt any further attempt to execute Christa Pike after the convicted murderer regained consciousness in hospital following a botched lethal injection.
The 50-year-old was placed on a ventilator after the state failed to carry out her execution on September 30.
Almost a week later, Pike’s attorneys said she was “conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care.”
“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed,” one of her lawyers said.
“Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”
Governor Bill Lee has not responded to repeated appeals from Pike’s attorneys and opponents of the death penalty, who are asking him to commute her sentence to life in prison. However, he reaffirmed his support for capital punishment after the failed execution.
“My responsibility is to uphold the sentences that Tennessee juries have handed down, even when it’s difficult, and that is exactly what we intend to do in the days ahead,” Lee said.
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, described the unprecedented circumstances surrounding Pike’s case as “uncharted territory” in an interview with USA Today.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has not decided whether a second execution attempt would violate the constitution since 1947,” she said. “These are questions that have never needed to be asked before and no one knows the answers.”
Convicted murderer Christa Pike is awake and speaking in hospital after her botched execution on September 30
Pike is being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (pictured), where her attorneys say she is receiving critical care
Governor Bill Lee has not responded to repeated requests from Pike’s attorneys and death penalty opponents to commute her sentence to life in prison
Pike was pierced by at least seven needles as medical staff tried to administer two lethal doses of pentobarbital. The attempts left her arms “swollen, burned, and blistered,” her attorneys previously said.
According to a motion filed after the failed execution, “At one point, Ms Pike herself offered guidance on where the IV team could attempt access; one needle was bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed.”
Her lawyers said medical staff administered two sets of syringes containing the lethal drug. Throughout the procedure, Pike could reportedly be heard crying, whimpering and breathing heavily.
At one point, she said: “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.” Later, she asked: “Does this happen like that?”
Tennessee’s execution protocol requires a second set of drug syringes to be given “if the inmate is not deceased” after the first set. It does not explain what should happen if the person remains alive after both sets have been administered.
The Supreme Court considered a similar question nearly 80 years ago, when it reviewed whether Louisiana could execute an inmate for a second time after an unsuccessful execution.
Willie Francis was 17 when Louisiana first attempted to execute him in the electric chair in 1946. The chair malfunctioned, however, and failed to deliver enough electricity.
A year later, in 1947, the Supreme Court ruled that the failed execution had been an accident and that a second attempt would not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
He was successfully executed later that year.
Pike has been on death row for 30 years after she was convicted of the 1995 murder of her Knoxville Jobs Corp classmate Colleen Slemmer (pictured)
However, legal experts argued Pike’s case falls under different circumstances because months before the execution her attorneys warned that officials could struggle to access her small veins.
Columbia Law School professor Bernard Harcourt told USA Today that a second attempt could ‘arguably violate double jeopardy.’
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‘What’s interesting about that case is that the Supreme Court said it was an accident and, “You get to do it again,”‘ Harcourt said in reference to the Francis case.
‘Christa Pike wasn’t an accident. They knew.’
Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.
‘Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms Pike’s body,’ the lawyers wrote in the court filing.
Instead of ‘remedying this failure,’ they prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes, they wrote.
Maher told the outlet a second execution would ‘likely be unconstitutional.’
‘Of all the unknowns we have at the moment, the only thing I’m certain of is that she should not be subject to a second one,’ she added.
Pike’s then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp (left), and an accomplice, Shadolla Peterson (right), also helped lure Slemmer to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to death
Tennessee’s execution protocol does not outline what should be done if an inmate survives two lethal injection doses. The execution chamber where Pike was supposed to die is pictured
The governor ordered an independent investigation into Pike’s case and cancelled the only other remaining lethal injection for this year.
Her health update comes just days after Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada announced he would step down from his role later this month.
The former prison chief oversaw Pike’s attempted execution.
Strada said it was a ‘great honor’ to serve in his position and that he still ‘believes the Department carried out its responsibilities in accordance with the established protocol.’
‘Even so, stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward,’ he said.
Pike’s lawyers are seeking to have all evidence from her botched execution preserved so they can ensure accountability and protect her legal rights.
‘We are working closely with those closest to Christa to respect her wishes, safeguard her privacy and protect her rights as a patient during this extraordinarily difficult time,’ said Luke Ihnen, attorney for Pike with Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee.
Pike also took a piece of Slemmer’s skull (pictured in court during her murder trial) as a souvenir, according to investigators
‘We ask that the public and the media respect that privacy as well.’
Pike has been on death row for 30 years after she was convicted of the 1995 murder of her Knoxville Job Corps classmate Colleen Slemmer.
Pike’s boyfriend at the time, Tadaryl Shipp, helped lure the victim to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to death.
An accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, was on lookout as the pair carved a pentagram into the teen’s chest, police evidence showed.
Pike also took a piece of her skull as a souvenir, according to investigators.
Slemmer attempted to run for her life but the couple captured her again and continued the gruesome torture that lasted about 30 minutes to an hour, Pike estimated.
Pike and Shipp were both found guilty of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to death, and he received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.