Tennessee could try to execute Christa Pike again despite failed lethal injection attempt
Tennessee could legally seek to execute Christa Pike again following a botched execution attempt.
The death row inmate, 50, survived two rounds of lethal injection drugs of pentobarbital on Wednesday (30 September), and was subsequently hospitalised for life-saving medical care.
But any second execution attempt could face significant constitutional challenges, according to Charley Dugdale, Associate Head of Law and Associate Professor at St Mary’s University Twickenham.
“If she survives and becomes medically stable, she would remain under her existing death sentence unless it was overturned or commuted. At the time of writing, her precise medical condition has not been publicly confirmed,” she explains.
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“The execution date set by the Tennessee Supreme Court has now passed. Tennessee could not simply return Pike to the execution chamber whenever it chose.
“A new execution date would need to be lawfully set by the Tennessee Supreme Court before the state could make another attempt, and it would be difficult to seek another date before the comprehensive third-party review was completed. Given the unusual circumstances, the precise procedure may itself become the subject of legal argument.”
A second execution attempt
Dugdale notes that ‘existing US precedent suggests that a state may be permitted to make a second attempt’.
“In Louisiana ex rel Francis v Resweber (1947), the Supreme Court allowed Louisiana to try again after an electric-chair execution failed which the Court treated as an unforeseeable mechanical accident. This does not necessarily answer Pike’s case, but if Tennessee seeks another execution date, her lawyers could challenge it on several grounds,” she says.
How Pike's lawyers can challenge a second execution attempt
Dugdale details the following seven ways Pike's lawyers can appeal against another execution:
- An Eighth Amendment claim based on the physical and psychological effects of the first attempt.
- An argument that another lethal injection would expose Pike to a substantial risk of severe pain.
- A challenge based on Pike’s medical conditions and what happened during the first attempt.
- A request to prevent another execution until Tennessee discloses the findings of its investigation.
- Due process arguments concerning transparency and Pike’s ability to challenge a new execution plan.
- A challenge to any attempt to use the same protocol without meaningful changes.
- A competency claim if the failed execution caused injuries affecting Pike’s ability to understand the nature and purpose of the punishment.
“The legal significance of the investigation will therefore be considerable. What caused the first failure, and what Tennessee proposes to do differently, are likely to be central to any future litigation,” she adds.
The Eighth Amendment claim explained
Dugdale says the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment would likely become central to litigation over another attempt.
“A court considering Pike’s case could be asked to examine what caused the failure, what physical harm she experienced, whether the risk was foreseeable and whether a second attempt would expose her to further suffering,” she says.
“The central constitutional question is whether another attempt would simply complete the original sentence or subject Pike to a cumulative ordeal amounting to cruel and unusual punishment.”
Dugdale believes that existing precedent provides Tennessee with an argument for proceeding again, but does not determine what should happen after the circumstances surrounding Pike’s failed lethal injection.
“The unprecedented circumstances give Pike’s lawyers substantial grounds to argue that her case must be treated differently,” she adds.
Her lawyers might raise double-jeopardy arguments
Dugdale notes that ‘courts have historically treated another attempt as the continued enforcement of the original sentence rather than a second punishment for the same offence’.
“The legal significance of the investigation will therefore be considerable,” she explains.
“What caused the first failure, and what Tennessee proposes to do differently, are likely to be central to any future litigation.
“When the punishment is irreversible, they may be the only protection an individual has against an error or an abuse of state power.
“In Pike’s case, that scrutiny must now include not only the original conviction and sentence, but also everything that happened inside the execution chamber.”
Why Pike is on death row
At the age of 18, she carried out what a judge called the ‘horrific’ and ‘brutal’ murder of Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville in 1995.
Pike and two friends lured the 19-year-old into the woods, where they beat, tortured, and killed her. Pike was sentenced to death when she was 20 a year later.
Tennessee Supreme Court docs obtained by news.com.au state that Pike ‘told her friend Kim Iloilo, who was also a student at the facility, that she intended to kill another student, Colleen Slemmer, because she 'had just felt mean that day'.
“Pike went to Iloilo’s room and told Iloilo that she had just killed Slemmer and that she had brought back a piece of the victim’s skull as a souvenir,” the documents state.
“Pike said that a pentagram had been carved onto the victim’s forehead and chest. Iloilo said that Pike was dancing in a circle, smiling, and singing ‘la, la, la’ while she related these details about the murder.
“When Iloilo saw Pike at breakfast the next morning she asked Pike what she had done with the piece of the victim’s skull. Pike replied that it was in her pocket and then said, ‘And, yes, I’m eating breakfast with it’.”
Pike's legal team argued that her death sentence was disproportionate due to her severe childhood trauma.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Anish Vij