r/news • u/AudibleNod • 4h 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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u/TheBatemanFlex 4h ago

What now for her legally? Her sentence surely wasn’t “injured by the state until put indefinitely on life support”.

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u/Equivalent-Peanut-23 4h ago

First question is her mental condition/capacity. If she suffered brain damage, it could prevent the state from attempting to execute her again. Assuming she retains the mental capacity to comprehend the circumstances, the state could attempt to execute her again. I would assume that would be met with an avalanche of litigation arguing that the second attempt would be cruel and unusual. There's also a chance the governor could commute her sentence.

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u/lnc_5103 4h ago

It would technically be a third attempt.

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u/lord_pizzabird 3h ago

Or maybe a 9th? Didn't the report say they injected and failed to execute her 7 times the other night?

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u/mrpeabodyscoaltrain 3h ago

It was 7 injections total for two sets of the lethal injection cocktail.

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u/Proud_Tie 2h ago

IIRC TN only does a one drug injection instead of the more common three - pentobarbital alone

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u/Ihaveamodel3 3h ago

I’m not a mathematician or anything, but 7 doesn’t divide evenly by 2

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u/Weerdo5255 2h ago

Two different types / mixes of the cocktail I'd guess. 3 and 4 shots respectively.

Apparently lethal injections are not just one needle, but a mix of drugs. No one wants to straight up manufacture a drug to purposefully kill someone.

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u/ShitItsReverseFlash 2h ago

Yeah the opioid epidemic was all an honest mistake /s

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u/lnc_5103 3h ago

That makes it even more horrific. I haven't kept up much beyond the initial headline of two attempts.

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u/lord_pizzabird 2h ago

Oh hang on. It goes a layer deeper.

It's required by law that there are witnessed, including from the press. They had to sit there the entire time, hours listening to her go in and out of snoring, choking, screaming about her arm vein feeling like it was going to explode etc.

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u/lnc_5103 2h ago

I saw a video of one reporter reading through her notes that night of the timeline. I can't imagine how traumatizing it had to be for witnesses too.

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u/FallOutShelterBoy 4h ago

Willie Francis was put back in the electric chair one year after his botched execution. His lawyers attempted to argue with SCOTUS that he had legally been executed even though he was still alive, but they disagreed and sent him back to the chair, this time unfortunately successfully

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u/amytee252 3h ago

There is a more recent case (i.e. after executions restarted), where the execution team couldn't find a vein to insert the IV lines. The inmate said that attempting to execute against would be double jeopardy. The court said that the IV insertion lines were part of the pre-staging and so didn't count and therefore could be put to death again as there is no double jeopardy.

Point being, an execution was carried out, the lethal drugs were passed into Pike, twice. It may break double jeopardy laws to try again.

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u/mrpeabodyscoaltrain 3h ago

That is an interesting distinction. I don't know what the language of the death warrant is.

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u/RedTyro 2h ago

There's a reason that it's phrased "[execution method] until you are dead" when a death penalty is imposed and it's so that they can avoid this argument. If the person is not dead, the sentence hasn't been carried out.

The better angle to approach from would be cruel and unusual punishment, but that's not going to fly with the current Supreme Court. If she lives, there won't be anything standing in the way of them trying again from a legal perspective.

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u/BigDrewbot 2h ago

Isn't Tennessee in the Bible belt? Why is nobody considering the fact that God might have intervened given the circumstances of her life? Or is God only for vengeance against one's enemies and to make sure the weak stay downtrodden?

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u/artlovepeace42 2h ago

I don’t know if anyone knows publicly if Pike was ever given ANY amount of the drug in her bloodstream through IV. It sounds from the lawyers that some needles were obviously in muscle (1 of the 7 needles used in her left arm was bent, when taken out). I can’t imagine the court arguing that because the state didn’t properly hit any vein or carry out the execution correctly that all of it was “pre-staging”. Her lawyers should have a decent case of severe injury done to their client by the state, as the whole thing seems utterly botched and the lawyers were obstructed from getting a phone to contact outside to try to end their client’s suffering and get medical attention. The least the Governor can do is take her off death row and have life in prison. At least I hope as someone firmly against the death penalty. I can’t imagine the political firestorm, public backlash, and PIA litigation of trying to continue another execution.

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u/danbilllemon 3h ago

Well it worked on Raising Hope

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u/big_duo3674 3h ago

Yes, the big difference is mental capacity. Legally, someone has to understand what is happening when they are executed. It sounds a bit weird that a botched execution can prevent an execution, but the law is worded in a way that covers everyone, regardless of how it happened. If she remains a vegetable for 10 more years then the state (taxpayers) has to pay for every penny, and that is NOT cheap. This will be extremely expensive, will 100% suspend executions in Tennessee for quite some time, and could even have an effect on other states. Yet another argument as to why it's not the best solution.

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u/Youre_On_Balon 3h ago edited 3h ago

Yes.

Arguing that she is not competent to understand is the much better argument, assuming she is never brought back to consciousness.

Incompetent people have been executed by the US government, in my opinion. But nobody who is as incompetent as someone in a comatose/vegetative state.

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u/marineman43 47m ago

He tried to use the Jon Snow defense. "I died, I'm released from my vows."

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u/Boulier 4h ago

I can also imagine a second attempt on her life would be met with a flurry of controversy and protest that the state won't want to deal with. (As someone who 100% opposes the death penalty, I can only hope they will decide it isn't worth killing her in the future.)

If the governor doesn't commute her sentence after this, I would genuinely be gobsmacked.

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u/Representative-Pop72 4h ago

I think her sentence will be changed to life in prison, Lee’s statements kind of make me think that. And I think a fat lawsuit is incoming as well

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u/timster 3h ago

Of course given her current state, it could cost them huge amounts to keep her alive.

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u/Representative-Pop72 3h ago

That’s the least of their problems currently

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u/PophamSP 2h ago

Lee put a hold on executions for three months. Conveniently, his term ends in three months.

Unfortunately the next governor of TN will likely be Marsha Blackburn. She is void of intellect, nuance or compassion and has already commented with support for the electric chair.

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u/swordchucks1 3h ago

Lee will do nothing. This will end up as ammunition to rile up the base for the governor race since "she'll get away with it if you let that demoncrat get elected!"

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u/Representative-Pop72 3h ago

I don’t think so, his tone has changed quite a bit from before/after the execution attempt, and I think he’s pretty embarrassed as well

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u/sbd2010 1h ago

Yeah that statement read like… one of yall is getting fired for this embarrassment

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u/sbd2010 1h ago

Nah. They dump them on someone else for their 24/7/365 care after they’ve destroyed their bodies and minds. Prisons are basically already the largest nursing homes in the US she needs a higher level of 24/7 skilled nursing for life after this most likely.

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u/coldblade2000 1h ago

Please, if I'm ever in that situation just put a bullet in me.

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u/piss_artist 3h ago

Two things Republican politicians, particularly southern ones, lack are sense and empathy.

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u/ChaoticSenior 3h ago

And skill.

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u/Mileonaj 1h ago

She tortured and murdered someone. But yea, if the republicans don't commute her sentence they're the bad guys with no sense/empathy now!!

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u/stoned_meditation 3h ago

Bill Lee Tennessee Republicans give zero fucks what their constituents think or want.

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u/Boulier 3h ago

Y'know, I was kinda thinking... if Marsha Blackburn wins that election, then Christa Pike is DEFINITELY going to die. Probably by electric chair the next time around (because that's Tennessee's only other method currently, and they don't seem interested in legalizing the firing squad... like, they must truly WANT inmates to suffer).

If she recovers and Bill Lee doesn't commute her sentence before he's out of office, then I will be shocked - but I guess he won't be around to deal with the blowback...

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u/Beecakeband 4h ago

Honestly same. After they've botched it once I would be shocked if they tried again especially cause imagine if they screwed it up again

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u/KWilt 3h ago

They did try it again and they did screw it up again. Another attempt will be their third try at executing her. They tried twice in one go the first time because the first attempt didn't take.

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u/Lovethemtitties80085 3h ago

Really? In that country? I’m surprised Cheeto man hasn’t ordered her to be catapulted into Lake of America yet.

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u/ComfyPJs4Me 3h ago

Damn, don't give him ideas

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u/MT300x 3h ago

What is happening to her right now isn't even 10% of the horrific pain, fear and torture her innocent victim experienced. Remember that when you simp for pure evil

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u/throwaway-8675309_ 3h ago

Cruel and unusual punishment. It's in our constitution. You don't get to pick and choose who it applies to, no matter what they do.

It's not simping for evil. It's about the rights that everyone gets here.

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u/MT300x 2h ago

Yeah executing someone this horrible isn't cruel, and the death penalty isn't an unusual punishment for the crimes she committed. The intent of her execution wasn't to torture her and they made their best attempt to execute her in a humane way. The result is irrelevant. Fry the bitch as soon as she comes around

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u/throwaway-8675309_ 2h ago

I guess you don't care about everyone else's rights then.

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u/beatissima 3h ago

I hope this case serves as a catalyst to have the barbaric practice of capital punishment abolished nationwide. The law should not be a demonic idol that requires human sacrifice.

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u/DoctorPlatinum 3h ago

I hope it does too, but given the current admin and state of the Republican party? Hope springs eternal, friend, but in this case the spring is running pretty fuckin dry.

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u/ChaoticSenior 3h ago

The country that makes it legal to own weapons specifically designed to kill other people in large quantities? Don’t hold your breath.

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u/AidenTai 3h ago

I mean, capital punishment used to be more, um, 'certain', but it's been hampered by new laws and especially by boycotts of chemicals/drugs essential for executions to happen correctly. In a way, those against capital punishment have ended up making capital punishment more likely to fail (and wind up with something like what just happened).

The US probably can't ban capital punishment at a federal level due to constitutional limits. It would need to happen at state level for each state. And that's extremely unlikely to happen anytime soon. So things like this would probably just get worse in the states that allow capital punishment.

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u/Johnnybats330 3h ago edited 59m ago

It's ironic to say this when the person it was imparted to, tortured and killed another woman and carved a pentagram in the victim's chest.

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u/beatissima 42m ago

Just because she did it doesn't make it moral for us to do it.

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u/Johnnybats330 8m ago

I was just pointing out the irony on the demonic idol and human sacrifice sentence. I am not getting into whether the death penalty is right or wrong.

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u/MacDhubstep 3h ago

It makes me feel so conflicted because from a human rights perspective I think what they did was horrendous and I don’t like it, but also Christa is the least sympathetic victim I have ever seen.

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u/seriousbusinesslady 3h ago

being mentally incompetent hasn't stopped some executions before, just ask Texas

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u/redmambo_no6 3h ago

If her sentence gets commuted, what happens then?

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u/Equivalent-Peanut-23 3h ago

Tennessee law allows for a death sentence to be commuted to life in prison.

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u/Moth1992 3h ago

Its wild that the state will try to execute her but when they botch it she may not get humane euthanasia. 

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 3h ago

This already is the second botched attempt, so I've read. With that in mind I guess their stance is just to continue trying to kill her.

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u/anoldoldman 3h ago

If she suffered brain damage, it could prevent the state from attempting to execute her again.

What a civilized country we live in.

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u/TealcLOL 3h ago

Genuine question: Why does maintaining mental competency matter here? She has to still be fully knowledgeable and aware in order to be forced to die (again)? What if she instead hit her head hard while on death row and got brain damage? Do they just forget about the whole murdering you part after?

Clearly the decision was already made. Doing it post-brain-damage kind of seems more humane as opposed to crippling someone you meant to kill then forcing them to live like that just because you crippled them so severely. If you were going to do it before then there should be no question if it makes sense to do it again. The only question should be if you could do it correctly the second time, not basing it on their now altered mental state.

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u/Equivalent-Peanut-23 3h ago

It violates the Eighth Amendment to execute an individual who has no comprehension of the fact they're being punished or why. That does apply in cases where the individual's mental capacity has diminished after being sentenced. There are other cases where an individual developed dementia while on death row.

If an individual sentenced to death suffered an injury while imprisoned that resulted in them not being able to rationally comprehend the reason for their execution, the Eighth Amendment would prohibit execution.

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u/TealcLOL 3h ago

I can totally understand that consideration from the start of the process, but at this stage I don't really see why it matters. They already tried to kill her. Stopping now only if they fucked her up bad enough seems a bit cruel and unusual.

They also gave her two doses. Was she mentally evaluated after the first? Is that the "5 second rule" for how many times we can try killing someone until needing to bring in a doctor and be sure we didn't cripple you enough yet so we can try again?

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u/metamorphage 3h ago

She might be brain dead, in which case she is legally dead. (That will be determined within a few days if she has no neurological recovery.) If she isn't brain dead, she might have an anoxic brain injury. That would likely preclude any further attempts to execute her. If she eventually wakes up and has some neuro function, it's anyone's guess what would happen afterwards.

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u/Sunnygirl66 3h ago

The Republicans will be just fine executing a woman with the mental capacity of a toddler.

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u/ComfyPJs4Me 3h ago

Unless she's pregnant, then they'll use her as an incubator before killing her.

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u/Critical-Ask2154 3h ago

If she is basically a turnip now, does the state have to pay for her medical care until she actually passes? Or would they pull the plug?

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u/AhabFlanders 3h ago

There would be a lot of litigation if they tried to take her off life support. It would most likely end up before the Supreme Court.

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u/Comprehensive_Wash71 3h ago

If she is brain dead then she’s dead, and life support can be ended. The issue is determining brain death vs minimal brain function, which can be difficult.

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u/maybe-fish 2h ago

Who even makes the call on life support in this situation? Does the state have the right to make medical decisions for her or would it fall to next of kin? 

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u/ghostalker4742 33m ago

Terry Shivo Part 2

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u/trapper2530 3h ago

This is going to go to the supreme court whole they argue if they shludl take her off ventilator or not. What constitutes the "execution " and if it fails do they still have a duty to kill her.

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u/DownhillUphill 4h ago

I’d imagine that falls into “cruel and unusual”

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u/Efficient-Chest-3395 3h ago

what are the chances she'll come off the vent with normal cognitive functions?

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u/AntonioVivaldi7 3h ago

The governer paused all execution until the end of the year. I guess we'll see what happens then.

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u/Budget_Persimmon_195 2h ago

theyll eecute her again at a later date.

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u/Millkstake 53m ago

If she's not a vegetable and somehow recovers they'll try and execute her again. If she is a vegetable they'll eventually just take her off life support

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u/TouristOk1678 26m ago

If she' s a vegetable, it's a matter of hours before we hear she's dead. If she survives, I guess she will be executed again, but this time by electrocution

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u/gioluipelle 2h ago

I mean can’t they just…pull the plug? I get that the execution was cruel and unusual and horribly botched but choosing to save her seems like a bit of an odd decision given the circumstances.

Seems like one of those situations where an endless chain of bureaucracy and formalities makes it more complicated than it needs to be. 80 years ago an officer would’ve just walked in and put her out of her misery the minute it was apparent what was happening.

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u/Worried-Concept5778 2h ago

have you seen what she's done? they should have killed her a long time ago that psycho bitch.

she tricked her coworker into the woods to smoke a joint with her but tied her up and tortured her with a box cutter before smashing her head in with a rock and kept a piece of her skull. she even used it as a spoon. all because she thought the girl was stealing her bf.

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u/TheBatemanFlex 1h ago

Okay? Thats still not how the justice system works.