Christa Pike speaks after execution attempt, doctor not surprised

A Tennessee doctor has revealed that he is ‘not surprised’ that Christa Pike has woken up and is speaking - according to her lawyers - after her botched lethal injection.

Pike, sentenced to death for the brutal murder of Colleen Slemmer in 1995, was subjected to ‘chemical torture’ according to her team, but has since woken up and is now talking again.

Christa Pike’s condition remains firmly up in the air

Despite remarkably surviving two doses of pentobarbital, Pike still has a long way to go before we’ll know what might happen to her.

The controversial concoction of drugs was administered to her last week, before she clearly realized that something wasn’t right during the process and asked a question to the execution team.

Then, it became clear to the witnesses - which included her victim’s mother - that things had gone wrong, and Pike was taken to hospital.

Now, according to her lawyers, she’s woken up and is able to speak.

That’s not to say that she will make a full recovery, and it could still be that she will be medically unable to face a second execution attempt, or even spend the rest of her days in prison as her lawyers have asked.

However, it does provide an interesting reflection point for discussion on the morality of the death penalty as a whole, as well as on lethal injection as a method - as opposed to other methods like firing squad, which are back on the table - and what should happen to prisoners who endure these increasingly frequent botched execution attempts.

Now, a Tennessee doctor has given his professional opinion on the matter.

Credit: Tennessee Department of Correction

Why Christa Pike might have survived the lethal injections

Speaking to WVLT8 after Pike awoke, Paul Allen said: "I wasn’t surprised at all.”

Pike’s legal representatives said that the drugs may not have been going directly into her veins, and may have been going into her muscles instead.

Allen explained that despite this, the drugs may have still killed her in the aftermath if the medical teams hadn’t stepped in.

After Pike failed to die during a specific time in the execution process, the doctors stepped in to administer life-saving care.

Tennessee’s Department of Corrections has said that it followed all protocol.

"Had they just left her, I think she would have succumbed to the drug,” Allen added.

"And then it was just a matter of time until the large dose of pentobarbital metabolized came down and then she was able to respond and her breathing center worked normally.”

So, what happens now?

Credit: Death Penalty Information Center

Attorney addressed whether a second execution attempt is likely

Pike’s lawyers have argued that she should have her sentence commuted to life in prison, arguing that she has undergone ‘chemical torture’ and that the punishment she has now received is beyond what is reasonable.

However, it really comes down to what mental state she is able to recover.

Criminal defense attorney Josh Hedrick said: "We have to assess what is her mental state? Under our law, you cannot execute someone who is not competent, right?

"While she may be awake, we don’t yet know what her mental state is.

"We don’t know if there’s brain damage. We don’t know how alert she is.”

As for the state of Tennessee, this is the second botched execution attempt in a year, so it’s not a good look - perhaps that might play a role in whether Pike is allowed to live following this incident.

We’ll have to wait and see.

Featured image credit: Death Penalty Information Center