Lawyers seek access to syringes after failed execution
Lawyers for Christa Pike will ask a judge to order prison officials to let them inspect the syringes and other equipment used in Tennessee's failed attempt to execute her last week for a 1995 murder.
Lawyers representing Christa Pike are requesting a court order to gain access to syringes and other execution equipment used in Tennessee's failed execution attempt last week. Pike, 50, was left unconscious, critically injured, and shackled in her hospital bed after two failed pentobarbital injections. Her lawyers argue the botched execution, now the second in Tennessee this year, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the US Constitution.
Pike is the first known survivor of a completed execution attempt in the US. They are seeking to preserve all evidence from the failed execution and immediate access to Pike for independent medical documentation. Tennessee opposes the preservation order, stating it is already required by law. The state faces challenges in obtaining execution drugs due to a European trade ban and reliance on unregulated compounding pharmacies.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who denied Pike's clemency request, called the execution a tragedy and suspended executions for the remainder of the year.
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