Christa Pike is awake after surviving execution: What happens now?

Tennessee death row inmate survives execution attempt, sparking legal and medical concerns.

This handout picture dated January 12, 2023, provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction, shows convicted US murderer Christa Pike, the only person to have survived execution by lethal injection in the US [AFP]

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike, who survived a failed execution by lethal injection in a US prison last week, is conscious and speaking at a hospital, her lawyers have said.

Fifty-year-old Pike was convicted of murdering her classmate in 1995.

The Death Penalty Information Center, which publishes data and analysis on capital punishment in the United States, said Pike was the first inmate ever to survive “after being injected with lethal doses of execution drugs”.

Pike’s “unprecedented” survival raises questions about her medical and legal future.

Here’s what we know.

What is Christa Pike’s condition now?

Pike is under guard, recovering at a hospital in Nashville where she was rushed after surviving the lethal injection administered by the Tennessee Department of Correction. Her arms were swollen, burned and blistered when she arrived at the hospital on September 30.

“Against all odds”, Pike is now “conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care”, her lawyers said, adding that “she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed”.

They called her recovery “medically unprecedented”.

Pike’s prognosis remained “unclear”, they said, adding that, at a minimum, she faced a lengthy recovery.

Why was Pike on death row?

Fifty-year-old Pike was sentenced to death after being convicted of a murder as a teenager.

The case sparked debate over the death penalty for young offenders, as Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer at a job training camp in 1995.

Pike’s lawyers sought clemency, citing her age, childhood sexual abuse and mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

The case had already attracted attention in the run-up to the execution date, as Pike would have been the first woman put to death by the state of Tennessee in more than 200 years.

Death row inmate Christa Pike enters a Knox County Criminal Court in Knoxville, Tennessee, US, on December 4, 2007 [J Miles Cary/Reuters]

What went wrong in the death chamber?

7:30pm – The attempt to execute Pike got under way on September 30 in the death chamber at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Pike was given a chance to make a final statement before two doses of the chemical pentobarbital were administered as executioners attempted to put her to death.

7:35pm – Pike raised her head and said her arm was hurting.

8:53pm – Media were escorted out of the witness room.

9:14pm – An ambulance arrived at the prison to take Pike to hospital.

Journalists who witnessed the execution said a black curtain was drawn from inside the death chamber during the process to insert the intravenous lines into Pike, in line with state regulations. This is done to conceal the identities of the workers who perform the procedure.

Tennessee’s execution protocol calls for a secondary set of pentobarbital-filled syringes in case the condemned person does not die after the first set. But there are no instructions for how to proceed if the person does not die after a second lethal injection dose.

How will Pike’s lawyers proceed?

Pike’s lawyers are due in court on Wednesday, where they will be seeking more information from the Tennessee Department of Correction about the botched execution attempt.

They are seeking a court order to require the prison system to preserve information from the attempted execution, including drug lot numbers, needles, execution logs and other information.

Medical and lethal injection experts said it is possible there was a problem with the way the IV line was inserted, causing the drug to collect in her tissue rather than enter her bloodstream.

“Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown,” Pike’s lawyers said in a court filing.

Prior to the execution attempt, Pike’s lawyers had requested her death penalty to be carried out by firing squad or hanging, because she had small veins and a blood-clotting condition called thrombocytosis. They feared the condition could make the insertion of intravenous needles difficult and increase the risk of a failed procedure.

Pike’s lawyers have called for her death sentence to be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the failed execution attempt.

What do Tennessee government officials say?

Republican Governor Bill Lee called what happened “deeply disturbing” and ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred”.

The governor postponed the state’s only other execution scheduled for this year.

Frank Strada, the former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, who was the prison chief at the time of Pike’s failed execution, agreed to step down later this month.

US Senator Marsha Blackburn, 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.

It is unclear whether or when Tennessee could attempt to execute Pike again. Lawyers have argued it would be cruel and unusual punishment and that a new attempt could violate the prohibition on double jeopardy, trying or punishing someone twice for the same offence.

田纳西州一名死刑犯在行刑过程中幸存，引发法律和医疗方面的担忧。

这张由田纳西州惩教部门提供的、日期为 2023 年 1 月 12 日的照片显示的是美国被判谋杀罪的克丽斯塔·派克，她是美国唯一一个在注射死刑后幸存下来的人。[法新社]

据律师称，上周在美国监狱执行注射死刑失败的田纳西州死囚克丽斯塔·派克目前意识清醒，正在医院里说话。

50岁的派克于1995年被判谋杀其同学罪名成立。

发布美国死刑数据和分析的死刑信息中心表示，派克是第一个“在被注射致命剂量的死刑药物后幸存下来”的囚犯。

派克的“史无前例”的幸存引发了人们对她未来的医疗和法律前景的担忧。

以下是我们目前所了解的情况。

克丽斯塔·派克现在的状况如何？

派克目前在警卫的监护下，正在纳什维尔的一家医院接受治疗。此前，她被田纳西州惩教部门注射死刑后侥幸生还，随后被紧急送往该医院。9月30日她抵达医院时，双臂肿胀、烧伤并起水泡。

她的律师表示，“尽管困难重重”，派克现在“意识清醒，能够说话，并继续接受重要的医疗护理”，并补充说“她仍然被铐着手铐和脚镣绑在床上”。

他们称她的康复是“医学上前所未有的”。

他们表示，派克的预后仍然“不明朗”，并补充说，至少她将面临漫长的康复期。

派克为什么被判处死刑？

现年50岁的派克因青少年时期犯下的谋杀罪被判处死刑。

这起案件引发了关于对年轻罪犯判处死刑的辩论，因为 1995 年，18 岁的派克和她的男友在职业培训营殴打、折磨并杀害了 19 岁的同学科琳·斯莱默。

派克的律师请求法官宽大处理，理由是她年龄较大，童年时期遭受性虐待，以及患有精神健康问题，包括创伤后应激障碍。

在行刑日期临近之际，此案已经引起了广泛关注，因为派克将成为田纳西州 200 多年来第一个被处决的女性。

2007年12月4日，死刑犯克丽斯塔·派克进入美国田纳西州诺克斯维尔的诺克斯县刑事法庭。[J Miles Cary/路透社]

死刑室里究竟出了什么问题？

晚上7点30分——9月30日，在纳什维尔河畔最高安全级别监狱的死刑室里，对派克的死刑执行开始。在行刑人员给她注射两剂戊巴比妥钠之前，派克有机会发表最后陈述。

晚上 7:35 – 派克抬起头说她的胳膊疼。

晚上 8:53 – 媒体记者被护送出证人室。

晚上 9:14 – 一辆救护车到达监狱，将派克送往医院。

目击行刑的记者称，按照州政府规定，在为派克插入静脉输液管的过程中，行刑室内部拉开了一块黑帘。这样做是为了保护执行注射操作的工作人员的身份。

田纳西州的死刑执行程序规定，如果死刑犯在第一针戊巴比妥注射后没有死亡，则需准备第二针。但该程序并未规定如果死刑犯在第二针注射后仍然没有死亡该如何处理。

派克的律师将如何继续推进？

派克的律师将于周三出庭，他们将向田纳西州惩教部门索取更多关于此次失败的死刑执行尝试的信息。

他们正在寻求法院命令，要求监狱系统保存有关死刑未遂的信息，包括毒品批号、针头、执行记录和其他信息。

医学和注射死刑专家表示，静脉输液管的插入方式可能存在问题，导致药物积聚在她的组织中，而不是进入她的血液中。

“显然，行刑队的任何成员都没有意识到静脉输液管的位置不正确，或者静脉已经破裂，”派克的律师在法庭文件中说。

在执行死刑前，派克的律师曾请求以枪决或绞刑的方式执行死刑，因为她血管细小，且患有血小板增多症，这是一种血液凝固障碍。他们担心这种情况会使静脉注射针头插入困难，并增加注射失败的风险。

在行刑失败后，派克的律师呼吁将她的死刑改判为终身监禁，不得假释。

田纳西州政府官员怎么说？

共和党州长比尔·李称所发生的事情“令人深感不安”，并下令进行“全面的第三方审查，以确定究竟发生了什么”。

州长推迟了该州今年原定执行的另一次死刑。

曾任田纳西州惩教署署长的弗兰克·斯特拉达（Frank Strada）在派克死刑执行失败时担任监狱长，他同意在本月晚些时候辞职。

美国参议员玛莎·布莱克本是田纳西州共和党候选人，将接替比尔·李的席位。她呼吁田纳西州探索其他执行死刑的方法，以确保该州能够继续执行死刑。

目前尚不清楚田纳西州是否会再次尝试处决派克，以及何时会再次尝试。律师们辩称，这将构成残酷和不寻常的惩罚，而且再次尝试处决派克可能违反“一罪两审”原则，即对同一罪行进行两次审判或处罚。