KNOXVILLE -- On the day the state of Tennessee put one condemned prisoner to death in Nashville, a three-day hearing regarding another death-row inmate concluded in Knoxville.
Anthony Darrell Hines, sentenced to death in 1986 for the March 3, 1985, murder of Catherine Jean Jenkins, was executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution the morning of Aug. 13.
Meanwhile the hearing into Christa Pike, convicted in 1996 for the 1995 death of Colleen Slemmer and set for a Sept. 30 execution, ended at 11:37 a.m.
Pike’s attorneys argued a number of challenges into the constitutionality of her execution. Citing childhood abuse at the hands of men, they argued that having the sentence carried out by a team of men would be inherently cruel, as would her small
veins.
"That does increase the likelihood that an 8th amendment violation will occur," said Pike's attorney Stephen Ferrell, referring to the 8th amendment of the U.S. Constitution which was written to prevent cruel and unusual punishment. "There is an increased risk of pain and suffering."
The state's attorney, Will Ayers, said Pike failed to show a compelling reason why the state should stop her execution.
"Miss Pike's burden is to produce scientific proof," Ayers said. "She has not carried her burden. ... Miss Pike failed rather spectacularly."
Special Master Mark Ward will write a report considering what is too cruel and what is acceptable in the execution of Pike. There was no jury, no verdict.
Ward's report is due to the Tennessee Supreme Court by Aug. 21. The prosecution and defense can challenge those conclusions until Aug. 28.
Pike's team is asking the court to delay her execution for more discussion.
Ward didn't indicate an affinity for either side during the hearing.
"Once again, I find myself agreeing with both sides a little bit," he said at one point.
During an argument between attorneys, Ward said, "I will give this issue the weight it deserves."
The reason Pike is on death row was never mentioned in the hearing. Pike sat at a long table in the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center with her image streamed into the courtroom. In 1995, she bludgeoned her friend, Colleen Slemmer, to death, kept a part of Slemmer's skull as a souvenir and carved a pentagram into her chest.
The protocol for Pike's Sept. 30 scheduled execution and how much pain she should endure, from the hours leading to the death chamber to the 20 to 30 seconds after the drug is injected, has been debated inside this Knoxville courtroom.
Will she be strapped to a gurney in a prison full of men and rolled to the execution chamber?
Will the crease of her elbow be pierced by a 24-gauge needle to allow for a massive dose of pentobarbital to kill her?
Or will a doctor stick a needle under her clavicle to inject the lethal drugs in a "central line" or main artery?
Ward has not given any clues about which way his report will lean.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hearing into Christa Pike case has ended in Knoxville
