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Christa Pike survived a failed execution in Tennessee after IV lines malfunctioned, leaving her hospitalized and prompting an independent review and a halt to executions.
Convicted killer Christa Pike was placed on a ventilator and unconscious in a hospital hours after her failed execution in Tennessee, her lawyers said in a court filing on Friday US time.
The stunning failure in Tennessee's execution chamber on Wednesday has left both sides of the death penalty debate demanding answers. The state's governor has ordered an independent review. In the court filing, Pike's attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.
Attorneys blame IV line failures
They wrote that apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms Pike's body. Instead of remedying this failure, they prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes, her lawyers said. Pike, 50, was convicted of murdering her classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, in 1995.
She would have been the first woman to be executed in the state in more than 200 years. She remains in critical condition, while executions have been halted in Tennessee. An independent review has also been ordered into how the procedure failed. The execution team worked for an hour to administer the lethal drugs, said Pike's defence lawyer Randy Spivey, who counted at least seven needles in her left arm.
Neither the initial nor the backup dose of pentobarbital worked. Pike was still snoring when the execution chamber's microphone was cut off more than an hour into the attempt. State officials have not offered any explanation about what went wrong during the execution attempt. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee demanded a review of the state's execution procedures and indefinitely postponed Pike's execution and another one slated for this year.
Tennessee officials review lethal injection protocol
Other Republican political leaders in Tennessee said the state should review whether to stop single-drug lethal injections and consider other options to carry out death sentences. The state says its protocol was followed, but lawyers and medical experts say repeated problems finding and maintaining IV access may help explain why Pike is still alive. Inside the failed execution attempt of a death row inmate in Tennessee that has thrown the state's death penalty system into turmoil.
Colleen Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, has spoken out about the failed execution. The case has drawn attention from both supporters and opponents of capital punishment, who are now seeking clarity on how such a failure could occur. SBS News in Depth is a news analysis podcast from SBS, going behind the headlines with reporting and interviews on the stories shaping Australia and the world. Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world.
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smh:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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