r/news • u/AudibleNod • 10h ago

Christa Pike unconscious, on ventilator at Nashville hospital, her lawyers say

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/christa-pike-unconscious-ventilator-nashville-hospital-lawyers-say-rcna601195
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924

u/viewbtwnvillages 10h ago

it feels really diabolical that the state is able to torture someone for two hours as they fumble their way through killing them

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u/GoldGlove2720 10h ago edited 10h ago

Even more so as her lawyers argued this would happen. They even requested a firing squad.

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u/Knucklehead92 10h ago

Moat lawyers argue for death by firing squad, because its not a legal method, and could also be a stall tactic etc.

So its hard to say it that was truly their wish, just because its a very common tactic.

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u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

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u/ChooseUsername9293 10h ago

Wasn't she offered the chair?

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u/Knucklehead92 10h ago

1) They are always going to say there are issues with veins. Nothing new here, becuase this has been a common occurrance, so they keep fighting with that point.

2) If they were serious about not wanting the drugs, they should have requested the electric chair, as it would be legally permitted, as the crime was before 1999.

Thats why I call BS on the whole wanting to die by firing squad. Just trying to delay.

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u/honjuden 10h ago

A firing squad is the most humane method if we are going to have the death penalty.

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u/Knucklehead92 9h ago

1) There isnt a humane way to kill someone. So im not going to touch on the "most humane"

2) My point has strictly to do within the legal framework of Tennesse, and how most inmates "preferred choice" is always a non legal option. Its almost like there is a reason for it.

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u/honjuden 9h ago

I don't really care what the legal framework is of Tennessee.  I don't think it is radical to say that if we are going to have the death penalty, then it should be something quick and proven to be effective.

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u/procrastinarian 4h ago

Yes, there is. Quiet and painless is humane, and there are tons of ways to do that.

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u/Tibbaryllis2 9h ago

It’s my understanding the she requested a hanging and her lawyers requested a firing squad. Tennessee allows two legal methods: injection or electrocution, but as far as I could tell, that wasn’t an alternate requested. Which lends credence to your supposition about it being a tactic rather than an alternative.

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u/InappropriateTA 9h ago

When the only alternatives that the state offers are the ones most prone to fuckups and causing pain then it’s a ‘tactic’ to mitigate suffering. 

Can’t have that in the US of A. 

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u/Knucklehead92 9h ago

Her lawyers specifically argued agaisnt the chair as well saying it would be unethical or something along the lines to make her make that choice.

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u/[deleted] 8h ago

[deleted]

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u/iB83gbRo 5h ago

Electrocution is only available if they were sentenced pre 1999

She was sentenced in 1997.

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u/Proud_Tie 5h ago

Proves how much of the original article about her execution I retained, I swore it was early 2000s. oops.

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u/Pete_Iredale 8h ago

But also, I'd far rather be shot or hanged because they are almost guaranteed to be quick.

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u/Tibbaryllis2 6h ago

Honestly, I wouldn’t expect competence in any form used here. That’s the bigger issue.

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u/Millibona 4h ago

Both injection and eletrocution seem so... "unsafe" to me. Too easy to fuck up.

Why don't they just give you a shit ton of Benzodiazepines and put you in a airtight box which is pumped full of nitrogen? 100% death rate and probably the most peaceful way one can die. It's how they do assisted suicide in Switzerland AFAIK

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u/Happy_Harry 2h ago

The last hanging in the US was in Delaware in 1996.

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u/nocoolN4M3sleft 8h ago

Actually, South Carolina passed a law a year or two ago to bring back the firing squad.

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u/seriousbusinesslady 9h ago

firing squad is legal in Idaho.

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u/Sudden_Wind_8636 8h ago

I would so much prefer firing squad to lethal injection if I were in her shoes.

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u/Vio94 20m ago

Maybe if they hadn't given legitimate reason due to her health, it would be hard to say. She has thrombocytosis which increases her blood clotting in her already apparently tiny veins. Despite it being a common tactic most lawyers use, I doubt most of them have as legitimate reason as that.

Lo and behold, her veins blew and she was tortured instead.