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Christa Pike’s attorneys believed she was brain-dead before she woke up ‘to the shock of everyone’
CNN • • general
Key Points:
- A Tennessee judge ordered the state to preserve all evidence related to Christa Pike’s failed execution, including 911 calls, official communications, and physical evidence from the execution chamber.
- Pike survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital and, despite initially appearing brain-dead, woke up confused and conscious, expressing anger and awareness that the state attempted to execute her.
- Pike is currently hospitalized with pneumonia, a blood clot, swollen and blistered arms, and is unable to swallow or move her arms, with an uncertain prognosis for recovery.
- The judge declined to rule on Pike’s requests for a tablet and to have her arm unshackled, asking for more information from hospital staff about security and medical necessity.
- Tennessee’s Assistant Attorney General argued that evidence preservation efforts were already underway and that no new execution order is pending, pending possible decisions by the Tennessee Supreme Court.
