Convicted murderer Christa Pike has made a “medically unique” recovery after receiving two lethal doses of the drug pentobarbital, according to media reports. Against all odds, she is conscious and receiving ongoing medical care.
"Her prognosis is still uncertain, but we anticipate at least a long recovery," her lawyers said Tuesday, according to USA Today.
The lawyers have asked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute Pike’s sentence to life imprisonment, arguing that the first execution attempt constituted unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.
In Texas, lawyers are seeking to stop the execution of another death row inmate, scheduled for Wednesday using the same method. They cite the same risks as in Pike’s case and question the method’s reliability.
Double punishment?
Death penalty experts say they are now in uncharted legal territory.
The US Supreme Court has not ruled on whether a second execution attempt would violate the Constitution since 1947, Robin Maher, director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, told USA Today.
In that case, the man was executed on a second attempt. But it is very different from Pike’s. Before the lethal injection, medical experts warned that she had a blood disorder that could lead to “IV infiltration,” in which fluid leaks into the surrounding tissue instead of remaining in the vein.
Despite this, the US Supreme Court rejected her request for alternative execution methods. A new execution could therefore violate the Constitution’s prohibition against double jeopardy, according to legal experts.
Chained to her bed
An independent investigation into the events is underway after being ordered by Tennessee’s governor, who has not yet provided answers about what will happen to Pike.
According to her lawyers, Pike is currently handcuffed and chained to her hospital bed, with severe injuries to her arms from the poison injections, The Washington Post reports.
Pike was convicted of murdering a fellow student in 1995, when she was 18. The case attracted considerable attention in the United States because of its brutality, the age of those involved and its occult details.
