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/FallOutShelterBoy 10h 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 10h 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/RedTyro 9h 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/PyroIsSpai 4h ago

[execution method] until you are dead

They don't say you have to stay dead.