Tennessee’s only woman on death row Christa Pike suffers legal setback weeks before execution
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Christa Pike's attorneys have suffered a legal setback less than a month before Tennessee's only woman on death row is scheduled to be executed.
A special judge has largely rejected challenges brought by Pike, who argued that a blood condition and small, compromised veins could make a lethal injection unnecessarily painful.
Pike's execution date remains set for the end of September, although her attorneys can continue challenging the decision.
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The Tennessee Supreme Court is now expected to review the judge's report.
What did the judge rule about Christa Pike’s execution?
Pike spent much of last week in Knox County Court as her legal team argued that her medical condition could make establishing an IV for lethal injection difficult.
According to a report by Senior Judge Mark Ward obtained by WBIR, however, Pike's condition would not prevent medical staff from starting an IV.
The court also found that Pike had provided little evidence to establish that her veins were too small or damaged for a standard IV.
Her previous medical records indicated that blood draws had successfully been carried out in the past.
Pike's attorneys had proposed alternatives they argued would be more humane, including using a deeper central-line IV or hanging.
Judge Ward rejected those arguments, finding that hanging would be a more dangerous method and could carry a greater risk if something went wrong.
Pike was sentenced to death after being convicted in 1995 for the killing of Colleen Slemmer. She was a teenager at the time of the crime.
Her latest legal challenge also included arguments about her mental health and history of abuse.
What happened to Christa Pike before she was sentenced to death?
Following the release of the special master's report, Pike's attorney said the report found that Pike suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder as a result of repeated rapes and childhood sexual abuse by multiple men.
"The state clearly doesn't care about a girl victim of childhood rapes and sexual abuse," Pike's attorney said. "And it will be complicit should Krista's last moments be torturous."
Pike's legal team has also requested that female officers be involved in carrying out her execution.
The court said it would attempt to have all female staff in the capital punishment unit while Pike is housed at Riverbend, the facility where executions are carried out.
Pike is currently being held at a women's correctional facility in Nashville.
Her attorneys are still able to pursue further legal challenges as the execution date approaches, with the Tennessee Supreme Court set to review Judge Ward's report.
The latest ruling does not change Pike's scheduled execution date, which remains set for the end of September.
Which states have the death penalty?
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 27 US states have the death penalty, though it is not actively carried out in all of them.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (executive hold on executions since 2019)
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Ohio (executive hold on executions since 2020)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (executive hold on executions since 2011)
- Pennsylvania (executive hold on executions since 2015)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Wyoming
Which states have abolished the death penalty?
- Alaska (1957)
- Colorado (2020)
- Connecticut (2012)
- Delaware (2016)
- Hawaii (1957)
- Illinois (2011)
- Iowa (1965)
- Maine (1887)
- Maryland (2013)
- Massachusetts (1984)
- Michigan (1847)
- Minnesota (1911)
- New Hampshire (2019)
- New Jersey (2007)
- New Mexico (2009)
- New York (2007)
- North Dakota (1973)
- Rhode Island (1984)
- Vermont (1972)
- Virginia (2021)
- Washington (2023)
- West Virginia (1965)
- Wisconsin (1853)
Thomas Bamford