Nearly a week after Tennessee botched the execution of Christa Pike, during which she survived two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital, her lawyers returned to court on the morning of Oct. 7.
They are requesting that relevant evidence
related to Pike's execution be preserved and that they be given access to Pike to independently document her medical condition. The motion was filed by Pike's attorneys on Oct. 2.Pike's legal team has also been asking for her sentence to be commuted to life in prison instead of the death penalty, arguing that undergoing another execution attempt would violate the Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment.
Lawyers have made repeated calls for Tennessee Gov. Bill Leeto commute
Pike's sentenceto life in prison. Lee has not responded to those requests.
Lawyers also argued that execution by lethal injection would be cruel and unusual in Pike's case before execution proceedings even began. During a three-day hearing in Knox County Criminal Court, lawyers argued that lethal injection would cause needless suffering due to Pike's thrombocytosis, a blood condition.
While Pike's lawyers continue to fight for her death sentence to be vacated, it's possible a previous court ruling could have set a precedent in a similar case. Here's what to know.
Christa Pike awake and talking after failed execution
Pike was rushed to a Nashville hospital after the second round of pentobarbital failed. As of Oct. 2, doctors were working to remove the lethal injection drug from her system and her attorneys said both of Pike's arms were swollen, burned and blistered.
In the early evening of Oct. 6, her attorneys released an emailed statement saying Pike is conscious and speaking.
"Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care," the statement said.
No one has ever survived lethal injection drugs before, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Could Tennessee attempt to execute Christa Pike again?
Some have argued that Tennessee could not attempt to execute Christa Pike again because it would violate the Eighth Amendment. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has already heard a similar case and set a precedent holding that a defendant could be executed even if the defendant survives a first attempt.
In 1945, Willie Francis, 16, was arrested and convicted of the Nov. 8, 1944, murder of Andrew Thomas in St. Martinville, Louisiana. Francis was sentenced to death after a trial that lasted just two days, with jury deliberations lasting only 15 minutes. He had confessed to the crime, but there were discrepancies in his two written confessions.
On May 3, 1946, Francis, then 17, was scheduled to be put to death by electric chair, but the current wasn't strong enough, and Francis survived. His second execution was scheduled for May 9, 1946, but attorney Bertrand DeBlanc, a friend of Thomas, became interested in the case and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that there should not be another attempt to execute Francis because it would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
In 1947, the Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber that a second execution attempt would not violate the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment, the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment or the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
On May 9, 1947, 18-year-old Francis was executed.
The Supreme Court has not revisited this ruling since the 1947 case. There's a difference between Pike's case and Francis' case, according to Columbia Law School's Bernard Harcourt, who told USA TODAY that because lawyers warned the state it would have a hard time accessing Pike's veins, it was not an accident. The failed execution of Francis was an accident.
However, there is a difference between Pike's case and Francis' case, according to Columbia Law School's Bernard Harcourt, who told USA TODAY that because lawyers warned the state it would have a hard time accessing Pike's veins, the outcomewas not merely an accident. The failed execution of Francis was an accident.
What did Christa Pike do?
On Jan. 12, 1995, Pike, 18, her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, 17, and her friend, Shadolla Peterson, 18, lured Colleen Slemmer, 19, into a wooded area behind the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Agriculture Campus. All four were students in Job Corps, a federal job training program designed as an alternative to college.
Pike believed Slemmer had a romantic interest in Shipp, and she, along with Shipp and Peterson, invited Slemmer into the woods near Tyson Park under the guise of wanting to put their differences aside. Instead, Pike and Shipp brutally beat and tortured Slemmer while Peterson acted as a lookout.
The murder included carving a pentagram into Slemmer's chest and taking a fragment of her skull, according to court documents. Pike reportedly showed off the piece of Slemmer's skull and bragged about the murder to classmates.
On March 22, 1996, Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She was sentenced to death by electrocution on March 30, 1996. Shipp was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Because he was 17 at the time of the murder, he was not eligible for the death penalty. Shipp is up for parole in 2031.
Peterson agreed to testify against Pike and Shipp and received six years of probation.
Afton Pratt covers trending and breaking news for Knox News and Tennessee. She can be reached at ampratt@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Could Christa Pike be executed again? Supreme Court case may set precedent
