Christa Pike survives botched lethal injection in Tennessee after court dismissed her warnings

Christa Pike, 50, survived two rounds of pentobarbital in Tennessee and is now conscious in hospital. Courts had rejected her lawyers' warnings just days before the failed execution.

Tennessee court dismissed Pike's survival warnings days before botched execution

Christa Pike's lawyers had warned Tennessee's courts that she could survive her lethal injection — and were overruled just seven days before the execution went wrong. The 50-year-old is now awake and talking in hospital after surviving two rounds of pentobarbital, having spent several days unconscious and on a ventilator.

Court documents obtained by the-sun.com show Pike's legal team had explicitly cautioned before her execution that Tennessee's protocol contained no plan for medical care or resuscitation in the event she survived. They argued the state needed to be prepared to keep her alive if the injection failed.

The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected that argument. The judges ruled that "the State is under no obligation to attempt revival" if an execution fails, and dismissed Pike's fears as "too speculative," noting that pentobarbital had been used in more than 100 executions "without incident."

Vein access and pulmonary edema warnings also rejected

The court also brushed aside a separate concern raised by Pike's lawyers regarding difficulties accessing her veins. The judges stated that "any risk of harm posed by her allegedly small veins is speculative," adding that "mere possibilities or hypotheticals… are not sufficient to establish a substantial risk of severe pain."

Pike's legal team had submitted expert testimony from Dr Joel Zivot, who warned that she suffers from thrombocytosis — a condition involving a high platelet count — which could cause clotting around an IV catheter and make it difficult to establish reliable vein access. Zivot testified that even if a catheter were successfully inserted, the access "may not last long."

Her lawyers also raised concerns about pulmonary edema, a buildup of fluid in the lungs which they argued could leave a prisoner feeling as though they were drowning after pentobarbital is administered. Zivot testified the condition can occur "almost instantly" and had been found in approximately 65 to 70 percent of inmates executed using pentobarbital. He estimated Pike could remain conscious for several minutes after receiving the drug, though he acknowledged "no one knows the duration."

The state's medical expert, Dr Joseph Antognini, disagreed, testifying that an inmate would normally lose consciousness within 20 to 30 seconds and would therefore not experience the effects of fluid building up in the lungs. The court sided with Antognini.

Carruthers precedent raised but dismissed

Pike's attorneys also pointed to a failed execution attempt involving Tony Carruthers just four months before her scheduled date. Carruthers' execution on 21 May was called off after officials were unable to establish the second IV line required under Tennessee's protocol, despite attempting both peripheral and central access. He was granted a one-year reprieve.

The court found that Carruthers' case did not demonstrate officials would encounter the same problem with Pike.

Execution attempt on 30 September

When Pike's execution proceeded on 30 September, witnesses reported that she complained her arm was burning and felt as though it was "about to burst open." She subsequently appeared unconscious while making deep, rhythmic snoring sounds, with her legs moving in a manner witnesses compared to a "swimming stroke."

As the execution went wrong, Pike's lawyers filed an emergency plea with the Tennessee Supreme Court asking for the IVs to be removed and for officials to take "all possible life-saving measures." The state informed the court that Pike had not been pronounced dead, that emergency medical care had been approved, and that she was being transported to hospital by ambulance.

Pike spent the following days unconscious and on a ventilator. Her legal team described her as critically ill.

Pike regains consciousness

She regained consciousness this week and is now able to speak, though her lawyers say she remains in critical medical care. Dr Zivot told the-sun.com on Wednesday that Pike is now off the ventilator. "She's breathing on her own, I think she's on some supplemental oxygen, but not what she required initially," he said.

Zivot added that Pike has some recollection of being in hospital but does not remember the execution attempt itself. Her lawyers have stated she remains handcuffed and shackled to her hospital bed despite her injuries.

Hearing to preserve evidence

Pike's lawyers are due to appear before a Nashville judge on Wednesday to fight to preserve evidence related to the failed execution. An emergency motion asks the court to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to retain physical, written and electronic evidence — including needles, syringes, remaining pentobarbital, execution logs and communications connected to the attempt.

Attorney Marcos Garza, who is not involved in Pike's case but reviewed the filing, said the motion could be laying the groundwork for a federal civil-rights lawsuit, though no such case has yet been filed.

Source: The Sun