Convicted murderer 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 continuing to receive medical care. What happens next is unclear.
"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 her sentence to life imprisonment, arguing that the first execution attempt on September 30 amounted to unconstitutional, cruel and unusual punishment.
Double punishment?
Death penalty experts say the case has entered 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 non-profit organization Death Penalty Information Center, told USA Today.
The failed attempt was an accident, and the man was executed on a second attempt. But that case is very different from Pike’s. Before the lethal injection, medical experts warned that Pike had a blood disorder that could lead to a condition called "IV infiltration," in which fluid leaks into the surrounding tissue instead of remaining in the vein.
Despite this, requests for alternative execution methods were rejected by both state and federal courts, as well as the US Supreme Court. 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 now underway. It was ordered by Tennessee’s governor, who has not yet said what will happen to Christa Pike.
According to her lawyers, she 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.
