In Tennessee, a second attempt to execute Christa Pike may face legal obstacles — CBC World
In Tennessee, a second attempt to execute 50-year-old Christa Pike following a failed lethal injection may encounter constitutional obstacles. In early October, Pike survived after being administered two doses of pentobarbital when the state sought to carry out her death sentence for the 1995 murder of her fellow student, Colleen Slemmer, CBC World reports.
After the execution attempt, Pike lost consciousness, was placed on a ventilator, and also suffered severe injuries to her arms. After hospitalization, she returned to the prison where she was serving her sentence. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, seven people survived failed lethal injection attempts when staff were unable to place intravenous catheters. Pike became the first person to survive after being administered lethal doses of execution drugs.
Cognitive condition
On October 7, Pike's lawyers said that she can speak but has problems with concentration and memory. According to them, it may take months to determine whether she has sustained lasting cognitive damage. Her ability to understand her punishment may matter for the possibility of a second execution.
University of Iowa law professor Emily Hughes noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited the execution of people who do not understand why they have been imprisoned and punished. Death penalty expert Deborah Denno also emphasized that case law does not permit the execution of people with certain intellectual disabilities.
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Constitutional arguments
Pike's defense may invoke the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits being punished twice for the same crime. Lawyers may argue that she has already been punished during the injection, even though she survived. At the same time, the state may argue that the prescribed punishment was death and that the sentence was therefore not carried out.
Another possible argument may be a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. In Denno's view, the previous procedure already contains evidence of a risk of severe pain. Hughes noted that the state may cite the case of Willie Francis: in 1946, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a second execution attempt after an electric chair malfunction.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee halted all executions until the end of the year after the failed procedure and ordered a comprehensive third-party review. A Tennessee judge also ordered the preservation of all evidence related to the execution attempt for a full investigation.
