Judge orders Tennessee to preserve evidence after Christa Pike survives lethal injection attempt

Christa Pike, 50, a Tennessee death row inmate convicted in the 1995 killing of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, regained consciousness and began speaking on Tuesday, six days after being strapped to a gurney and given two doses of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Sept. 30, according to her attorneys. The Death Penalty Information Center says Pike is the first person in the history of capital punishment to survive after being injected with lethal drugs. On Wednesday, Davidson County Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles ordered the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence from the execution attempt, saying "anything that was in the actual room" must be preserved and maintained, and granted Pike's lawyers "liberal access" to their client. Tennessee's commissioner of correction, Frank Strada, has resigned or agreed to step down, and Gov. Bill Lee has halted remaining executions this year and ordered an independent review.

Pike was sentenced to death for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow classmate at the Knoxville Job Corps, in 1995, when Pike was 18. According to NPR, Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, tortured and killed Slemmer; Shipp, who was 17 at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1997. The Guardian US reports that Slemmer's killing followed Pike's fear that Slemmer was trying to take Shipp from her, and that Pike has never denied involvement in the killing. Pike was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to The Guardian US. She had been on death row for about 30 years and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

According to Al Jazeera English and NBC Connecticut, the Sept. 30 attempt began around 7:30 p.m., when Pike was given the chance to make a final statement. About five minutes later she raised her head and said her arm was hurting; NPR reports she said her arm was burning and asked whether it was supposed to feel that way, adding, "Please try up on my shoulder higher." She appeared to lose consciousness but could be heard breathing audibly or raggedly until media were escorted from the witness room at 8:53 p.m. An ambulance arrived at the prison at 9:14 p.m. to take her to a hospital. State protocol provides a second dose of pentobarbital if the first does not result in death, but does not specify what to do if an inmate survives the second injection.

Pike's lawyers said she was unconscious and on a ventilator for several days, then woke on Tuesday. Attorney Randy Spivey said he was told her first words were "Where am I?" and "Who are you?"; The Guardian US quotes a lawyer saying, "The first thing she said was: 'Where am I and who are you?'" The New York Post quotes Spivey saying that on Monday night the understanding was that Pike was brain dead and that life support would be removed the next day, and that she woke Tuesday to the shock of everyone. Spivey described her as "angry and confused" and said she still cannot move her arms or swallow and has pneumonia and a blood clot in her arm, with extremely swollen hands. The Guardian US reports she remained shackled to her hospital bed by her feet and right arm, and that Spivey said medical staff asked for the shackles to be removed and were denied by the correction department. NBC Connecticut reports her attorneys told a judge she was "speaking limitedly" and expect a long recovery.

Pike's lawyers have accused the state of carrying out the attempt in secrecy and of "secreting away" evidence. In a court filing they said "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," according to Al Jazeera English and Boston.com. NBC Connecticut reports Pike's attorneys said she was poked with needles at least seven times in the death chamber and that she has a blood disorder affecting needle insertion; The Guardian US quotes Spivey saying he counted seven needles in her left arm, one of which appeared bent when pulled out.

Medical and lethal-injection experts cited by the sources offered possible explanations. Dr. Jonathan I. Groner, a retired pediatric surgeon who has studied lethal injections, told NBC Connecticut that the 5-gram dose of pentobarbital is many times the amount needed to put someone in a medical coma, and that her waking suggests very little of the drug entered her system; he said the IV may have been placed improperly or her veins may have ruptured, causing the drug to seep into tissue. Michaela Almgren, a South Carolina pharmacist who has consulted on lethal injection cases, raised possible drug-quality problems and said Tennessee does not disclose its drug supplier, making it hard to know whether the drug was prepared, tested and handled properly. Dr. Joel Zivot, an anesthesiology and surgery professor who consulted for Pike's legal team, said she has a blood-clotting disorder that causes excess platelets, which her lawyers argued could cause clotting at injection sites or bleeding affecting her lungs. Dr. Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner of New York City, said hospital doctors likely stabilized her breathing, checked how much pentobarbital was in her system and worked to flush it out, and may have dealt with muscle damage.

At the Wednesday hearing, Judge Myles said evidence including recordings, witness accounts, emails, drugs, syringes, IV lines, log books, medical waste and messages sent or received by officials associated with the attempt must be preserved, according to the sources. NBC Connecticut reports the judge said she would issue an order to preserve "anything that was in the actual room," while Boston.com reports she said she plans to issue a sweeping order. NPR reports the court also ordered that prison officials have two hours to respond to lawyers' requests for in-person visits. Luke P. Ihnen, an assistant federal defender in Knoxville, called the ruling "just a first step of many to preserve and enforce Christa's constitutional rights after this unprecedented botched execution."

Gov. Bill Lee has paused executions and ordered what Al Jazeera English describes as a "comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred"; The Guardian US and NPR report he halted executions through the end of the year and ordered an independent investigation. Boston.com reports the governor postponed the state's only other execution for this year and that he has not yet indicated how he will respond to the clemency request. Assistant Attorney General John W. Ayers told the hearing that some evidence from the death chamber had already been collected and logged and that a court order was unnecessary, according to Boston.com; NPR reports Ayers said the decision on when or if to schedule a new execution date is up to the state supreme court. The New York Post reports an Assistant Attorney General named Will Ayers told the hearing there is no pending execution order for Pike and replied "I can't answer that question" when asked whether the execution would be rescheduled. Boston.com reports that Ayers declined to comment after the hearing. Boston.com also reports that state officials have not yet offered an explanation for what went wrong.

Pike's lawyers have asked the governor to commute her sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, citing her age at the time of the crime, childhood sexual abuse and mental health conditions including PTSD, according to Al Jazeera English and NPR. NPR reports the clemency petition said media coverage of her trial occurred amid the "Satanic Panic" of the 1990s and that her co-defendant, Tadaryl Shipp, was the one fascinated by satanic imagery. Ihnen said it would be "unconscionable that the state would try to execute her again," according to NPR. Al Jazeera English reports lawyers have argued a new attempt would be cruel and unusual punishment and could violate the prohibition on double jeopardy. Al Jazeera English also reports that before the attempt, Pike's lawyers requested execution by firing squad or hanging because of her small veins and thrombocytosis.

The Death Penalty Information Center, described by NPR as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, said Pike was the first person in the history of capital punishment to survive after being injected with lethal drugs. Its executive director, Robin M. Maher, said in a statement, "This failed attempt is the worst we've ever seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era." Outside the courthouse, Michelle Nowell shouted "Justice for Colleen," saying, "The victim is Colleen. The victim is not Christa Pike," according to Boston.com; she was among a group that had gathered outside the prison last week. Al Jazeera English reports that US Senator Marsha Blackburn, described as the state's Republican candidate to replace Bill Lee, called on Tennessee to explore other methods of execution to ensure it can continue carrying out capital punishment. Boston.com reports Texas was set to carry out on Wednesday the first execution in the U.S. since Tennessee attempted to put Pike to death.

Where sources differ

• NPR reports that Tadaryl Shipp received life in prison without parole for his part in the murder. The Guardian US reports Shipp was convicted of first-degree murder in 1997 and given a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
• NBC Connecticut reports Gov. Bill Lee said he was "highly disappointed" after the failed execution; Al Jazeera English reports Lee called what happened "deeply disturbing."
• The assistant attorney general who appeared at the hearing is named John W. Ayers by NPR and Boston.com and Will Ayers by the New York Post.
• Accounts of that official's statements differ: NPR reports he said the decision on when or if to schedule a new execution date was up to the state's supreme court; the New York Post reports he said there is currently no pending execution order for Pike and answered "I can't answer that question" when asked whether the execution would be rescheduled; Boston.com reports he argued that a court order was unnecessary, that some evidence had already been collected and logged, and that he declined to comment after the hearing.
• Sources describe the judge's ruling differently: NBC Connecticut reports Judge Myles said she would issue an order to preserve "anything that was in the actual room," and Boston.com reports she said she plans to issue a sweeping order, while NPR, The Guardian US and the New York Post describe the judge as having ordered or granted the preservation motion at the hearing.
• NPR reports that Frank Strada, Tennessee's top prison official, resigned; Al Jazeera English reports Strada agreed to step down later this month. Boston.com says only that the state's prison chief resigned.
• NBC Connecticut reports Pike's attorneys said she was poked with needles at least seven times; The Guardian US quotes attorney Randy Spivey saying he counted seven needles in her left arm.
• NBC Connecticut states Pike is "the only person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution," citing the Death Penalty Information Center; Boston.com and the New York Post describe her as "believed to be" the first such survivor.

• No source establishes what actually went wrong in the death chamber; state officials have not offered an explanation, according to Boston.com, and the accounts of IV misplacement or vein rupture are described as possibilities raised by experts and allegations in court filings.
• The quality, source and handling of the pentobarbital used are not established: Tennessee does not disclose its drug supplier and has not said where Pike's supply came from, according to NBC Connecticut.
• No source establishes whether or when Tennessee will attempt to execute Pike again; Al Jazeera English and NPR report it is unclear, and NPR reports the decision is up to the state supreme court, while the New York Post reports an official said there is no pending execution order.
• No source establishes how Gov. Bill Lee will respond to the clemency request.
• Pike's long-term prognosis, including whether she will regain function in her arms or any cognitive abilities, is not established; her lawyers said it was unclear "what if any function" she would regain.
• No source explains what happened between Monday night and Tuesday morning, when Pike woke; her attorney Spivey said he has no explanation.
• The full scope and form of the judge's preservation order is not established, since NBC Connecticut reports she said she would issue an order and Boston.com reports she planned a sweeping order.
• No source quotes or contains a statement from Colleen Slemmer's family; only a supporter, Michelle Nowell, is quoted.
• None of the sources contains a direct account or comment from the Tennessee Department of Correction or the execution team about the attempt, the IV lines, the denied request to remove shackles, or the department's rationale.
• The exact number of needle insertions and the condition of the needles are not independently verified; the figures come from Pike's attorneys.
• Whether the execution team knew the IV lines were not correctly placed, or that veins had blown, is alleged in a court filing and not confirmed by any source.
• The sources do not establish whether Pike would face a second execution attempt without any finding that she is medically unfit, or the legal effect of the double jeopardy arguments raised by her lawyers.

1. NBC Connecticut — original — by Hannah Schoenbaum and Hallie Golden | The Associated Press
2. Boston.com — by Associated Press
3. NPR News — by Scott Neuman
4. The Guardian US — by Adam Gabbatt and Maya Yang
5. New York Post — by Alex Diaz
6. Al Jazeera English — by Al Jazeera Staff

Read the original at NBC Connecticut

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