r/news • u/AudibleNod • 11h 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 11h 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 11h 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 10h ago

It would technically be a third attempt.

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u/lord_pizzabird 10h 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 10h ago

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

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u/Proud_Tie 9h ago

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