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TN Judge grants request to save evidence from failed execution
A Tennessee judge has granted the request from Christa Pike's attorneys to preserve all evidence related to her failed execution, including physical and digital communications evidence.
Christa Pike’s attorneys revealed the first words the death row inmate said in the hospital when she woke up days after her failed execution in Tennessee.
Pike’s attorneys gave an update Wednesday afternoon after a hearing in which the court ordered the Tennessee Department of Correction to save evidence in the case and provide more information about what went wrong.
What did Christa Pike say?
What they're saying:
Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, Pike’s attorney Randy Spivey said he wasn’t in the room when Pike became conscious, but he was told she said, "Where am I and who are you?"
Christa Pike (Photo: TN Department of Correction)
"There’s still a lot of cognitive confusion," Spivey said. "She has wanted to know what’s happened, and she’s asked about several people. She’s asked about her team. She’s asked about the victim’s family.
"She is angry and confused about everything right now. ... She is very aware of what they did to her up to a point."
What's next:
Although Pike is awake, her prognosis is still not clear, and at minimum she has a long recovery ahead. Her arms were burned and blistered after the attempted lethal injection, and she is handcuffed to the hospital bed, her legal team said. It’s also unclear whether the state will attempt to execute her again if she makes a full recovery.
"Part of the issue that we are facing is up until yesterday, our client was unconscious, unable to communicate with counsel, unable to communicate with medical providers, and without her consent" a new lawsuit cannot be filed, Luke Ihnen, a federal public defender, told the court.
Who is Christa Pike?
The backstory:
Pike was 18 years old when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a jealous rage in 1995. Before her failed execution last week, she was set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
MORE: Christa Pike latest: Tennessee prisons chief resigns after failed execution
A federal appeals court briefly paused the execution Wednesday and said more time was needed to consider her lawyers’ last-ditch appeals, but the Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed after a nine-hour delay.
The state’s Republican governor declined to intervene and allow Pike to serve a life sentence.
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Failed execution: What's next for Christa Pike?
Legal questions remain as Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, survived a double dose of the lethal drug used to execute prisoners in the state. Peter Christiansen, a criminal defense attorney spoke with LiveNOW's Josh Breslow about the next steps in the process.
Pike’s ‘deeply disturbing’ failed execution
After the state administered two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital, witnesses said 50-year-old Pike was still alive and snoring.
Pike was taken to a hospital, where she remained unconscious and on life support for several days. Before she woke up Tuesday morning, it appeared Pike was likely braindead and would be taken off life support soon.
RELATED: Christa Pike conscious and speaking after surviving failed Tennessee execution, attorneys say
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Pike is the only person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution.
"I do not have an explanation for what happened between Monday night and Tuesday morning but I do know she has a long road to recovery," Spivey said Wednesday afternoon.
The Source: This article includes information from attorney Randy Spivey, The Associated Press and previous FOX Local reporting.