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Huge setback for death row inmate set to become first woman killed by US state in 200 years next month
Christa Gail Pike's challenges against the method used for her upcoming execution have largely been rejected by a special judge, acting as a clerk and master.
The only female death row inmate in Tennessee is still set to be put to death on September 30, having been in court in Knox County most of last week.
Pike was trying to challenge the US state's lethal injection method and protocol for the final moments of her life, as her legal team has argued that her blood condition, thrombocytosis, will cause unconstitutional suffering.
They claimed that her condition would worsen under the intravenous injection of a fatal dose of pentobarbital, while saying that she also has small and compromised veins that will add to the suffering of receiving the lethal injection.
But in a report released on Friday, Senior Judge Mark Ward said that her condition would not get in the way of starting an IV.
Experts also said she would lose consciousness within 20 to 30 seconds after receiving the lethal dose, before she could feel any pain.
Explanation behind the decision
In their explanation, the court said that Pike gave little proof that her veins are too small for an IV, as Ward highlighted that the inmate's medical records revealed that attempts to draw blood in the past worked out.
He added: "At most, Ms. Pike has shown that she could experience some unknown amount of pain from peripheral IV access, but no more than any other person would."
Despite this conclusion, Pike's legal team said that it would be more humane to execute their client with a deeper central line IV or by hanging.
Ward said that using a central line is a small change and not a different execution method, claiming that hanging is a more dangerous and painful method of death.
Furthermore, the court said that the prison system no longer has hanging equipment or anyone who is trained to perform that method.
Pike, a Buddhist, argued for having her religious advisor in the execution room, where Ward acknowledged that an arrangement had been agreed before the hearing.
Her Buddhist advisor will be present at the time of her death, after spending over 30 years on death row.
Pike's movement to Riverbend Maximum Security Prison (RMSI) in Nashville, 24 hours before her execution, will also be accommodated.
Her legal team argued that due to her history of sexual assault, Pike's movement to River Bend, a male facility, weeks ahead of time would have caused 'serious illness and needless suffering,' while triggering her post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ward stated: "The Court does find that Ms. Pike suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder.
"However, the Court also finds that the accommodations made by TDOC regarding Ms. Pike's scheduled execution have minimized the potential for Ms. Pike experiencing significant triggering and/or anxiety."
The special master also said that Pike failed to present evidence stating that her being transported to River Bend and strapped to a gurney will be 'highly triggering for her,' though he acknowledged that provisions were made so female corrections officers will watch over her.
Pike will be the only inmate in the Capital Punishment Unit during the time she is at River Bend.
Four guards will watch her at all times, rotating 12-hour shifts, with a privacy screen available so she can use the restroom and shower.
"When a prisoner asserts that the State's chosen method of execution cruelly superadds pain to the death sentence, a prisoner must show a feasible and readily implemented alternative method of execution that would significantly reduce a substantial risk of severe pain and that the State has refused to adopt without a legitimate penological reason," Ward stated.
What did Pike do to land the death sentence?
The felon is the only woman on death row in Tennessee, after being convicted of a murder so gruesome that it still sends chills down the spines of those familiar with the case.
Pike was sentenced to death after she was found guilty of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer on January 12, 1995, when she was just 18.
The horrific murder took place in a wooded area near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus, as the teenagers were part of the Knoxville Job Corps program.
Pike had become jealous of her boyfriend at the time, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp, as she thought Slemmer was interested in him.
As a result, she would murder her classmate with a box cutter, a cleaver, and a piece of asphalt in an extremely disturbing crime.