Christa Pike’s lawyers are due before a judge in Tennessee for an emergency court hearing following the state’s failed attempt to execute her.
The hearing is a status conference linked to an emergency motion filed after Pike survived the execution attempt. Her legal team is seeking directions on what should happen next as the case continues.
Tennessee administered two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital last week, but Pike remained alive. She was taken from prison to a hospital in Nashville, where she remains under treatment.
Her attorneys say Pike is awake and able to talk, although they expect her recovery to be lengthy.
Lawyers seek to preserve evidence from execution attempt
Pike’s legal team is also asking the court to preserve evidence connected to the procedure. They argue that the court retains authority to intervene while the case moves forward.
The lawyers have separately called for Pike’s death sentence to be commuted.
The failed execution has placed Tennessee’s process under scrutiny. Governor Bill Lee has halted the state’s remaining executions for the year while officials investigate what went wrong.
With Pike still alive and her lawyers challenging the handling of the execution, the hearing will address the next stage of the legal proceedings.
