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Christa Pike -where does she stand legally?

734 replies

mids2019 · 01/10/2026 06:39

Just this really. Christ a is obviously being giving life saving treatment at hospital but where does she now stand legally. I suppose she probably has irreversible brain damage so will this not allow a second execution to take place? Is this a cruel and unusual punishment?

[Note from MNHQ - edited your title, OP]

OP posts:
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ChubbyCheeksCharlie · 01/10/2026 14:15

NewGoldFox · 01/10/2026 13:49

Apologies if this is already discussed upthread, but I’ve just read that abortion is essentially unobtainable in Tennessee.
How can abortion be denied and the death penalty be happening in the same state, bizarre!

Lots of fervent Christians in Tennessee too. It's called the buckle of the Bible Belt, such is the strength of conviction.
As MNetters would say: Make it make sense!

ThatCyanCat · 01/10/2026 14:18

warninglivewithoutwarning · 01/10/2026 14:11

‘Those present’ should have not chosen to have been there.

The death penalty shouldn't exist at all, but if it does, I can see why it needs to be supervised.

InterIgnis · 01/10/2026 14:24

Her death penalty still stands, currently. Depending on if she recovers without being left incapacitated, it can be rescheduled and carried out.

Her lawyers will of course argue for a new sentence, which the state may or may not be inclined to grant.

Whether rescheduling the execution meets the standards of cruel and unusual punishment will likely be argued before the court.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Londonmummy66 · 01/10/2026 14:25

Not everyone has a choice to attend - I know someone who had to attend a hanging in the UK as a part of his job in the Home Office - mercifully only the once - he said that afterwards the governor took them all to his office for whisky and that he had never been able to tolerate the smell of whisky thereafter.

Eristealviper · 01/10/2026 14:25

HelpMyBlackLabradorVotesReform · 01/10/2026 13:36

Fucking hell - using a thread about a bodged execution to score cheap points on grammar is pretty low.

I was gonna do it about all the religion being piled on, so which is worse?

Eristealviper · 01/10/2026 14:29

EmmaOfNormandy · 01/10/2026 14:12

It's clear there are posters here who would have bought tickets.

❓🤔 is that a joke?

Rosscameasdoody · 01/10/2026 14:29

ChubbyCheeksCharlie · 01/10/2026 13:36

Apparently she requested an all female firing squad.
Injections often go wrong because medical professionals, including vets, are prohibited from administering them, so it's one of the prison officers. That's what I read, anyway.

That’s right. I posted upthread attaching an article from the BBC investigating how these drugs are obtained. Most drug manufacturers won’t supply them so prison authorities often have to resort to secretly ordering via pharmacies who make up the drug cocktails themselves without the rigorous checks afforded the mass produced versions. The result is unpredictable strengths and short shelf lives. Given this, and the fact that it’s non-medical prison staff administering the drugs instead of properly trained and qualified anaesthetists it’s hardly surprising that this happens.

InterIgnis · 01/10/2026 14:33

lepara · 01/10/2026 14:11

Murder is a crime. Execution is murder by appointment. The irony of that never ceases to amaze me. In the US the execution is a voyeur's paradise, with a crowd of tricoteuses looking through a window at someone being killed by timetable. Why so many witnesses, one would do. But no....

All this in a Bible Belt state, where Jesus lives and saves (all but those on death row). The hypocrisy of these evangelical "Christians" who tolerate this is something else.

I am against the death penalty. Life in solitary without parole is enough punishment for anyone.

Why so many witnesses?

Each witness had good reason to be present. You have the staff, members of the victim’s family, her representatives and spiritual advisor, and a limited amount of media.

Media personnel are there to act in the public interest.

Rosscameasdoody · 01/10/2026 14:33

qazxc · 01/10/2026 13:42

What is likely to happen will depend on her state of health.
You aren't meant to carry out the death penalty on someone who isn't compos mentis. So if there are ongoing issues, say for example with brain damage, it may be an avenue for legal team to pursue and try to get her sentence commutted to life without parole. This has happened to other inmates on death row with mental troubles, dementia or very low IQs. If, for example, she no longer understands why she is being executed, that would fall under the eight amendment and make it cruel and unusual punishment.
There was another botched execution (Tony Carruthers) in Tennessee as well. For that inmate, he got a one year stay and a potential execution date in 2027.
There are likely to be ramifications though of 2 executions going wrong, such as reviewing the execution method or maybe the drug companies not wanting their products used for this purpose anymore.

Most of the big drug companies won’t supply them anyway, and the UK and most of Europe has an embargo on exporting drugs to be used for execution purposes. There’s more on this upthread.

EmmaOfNormandy · 01/10/2026 14:35

EmmaOfNormandy · 01/10/2026 14:12

It's clear there are posters here who would have bought tickets.

To be fair, for this execution they would have demanded a refund.

ClaudiaWankleman · 01/10/2026 14:36

InterIgnis · 01/10/2026 14:33

Why so many witnesses?

Each witness had good reason to be present. You have the staff, members of the victim’s family, her representatives and spiritual advisor, and a limited amount of media.

Media personnel are there to act in the public interest.

Edited

What do you see as the public interest?

Many people would say the death penalty is not in the public interest in the first place.

EmmaOfNormandy · 01/10/2026 14:39

Eristealviper · 01/10/2026 14:29

❓🤔 is that a joke?

Deathly serious.

And as I later note, some posters here would not only have bought tickets, but demanded a refund.

Shinyhappyapple · 01/10/2026 14:40

The whole situation is shocking. Given a death sentence as a teenager, saying that as a victim of abuse she wouldn’t have been given the death sentence today. The woman has spent her whole adult life on death row. I was shocked to see they had actually even gone ahead with it. I don’t agree with capital punishment anyway but what does this say about the lethal injection method. Horrific.

Nothavingagoodvalentinesday · 01/10/2026 14:40

I always thought there was a protocol. Something on the lines of it being an act of God if a prisoner survives several attempts to execute them.

Ionlymakejokestodistractmyself · 01/10/2026 14:42

This case is utterly horrendous, from beginning to (almost) end.

Pike was abused throughout her life from conception onwards, developing subsequent mental illness and depravity.

She and her boyfriend killed poor Colleen in an horrific, evil way.

30 years in prison awaiting the death sentence, only for the time to come and the drugs not to work. Botched job of administering the drugs by crap staff.

Her lawyers had said it may not work due to a medical condition but this was overturned in the summer, and now this. Torture for her, no closure for the victim's family, just horrendous all round.

Rosscameasdoody · 01/10/2026 14:42

Toastytina · 01/10/2026 09:41

Why couldnt she giben an overdose of GA after sedation. Quick and painless.

Presumably because for overdose of conventional anaesthetic to be administered you need a qualified practicing anaesthetist. Or you end up with pretty much the same scenario.

Rosscameasdoody · 01/10/2026 14:43

ClaudiaWankleman · 01/10/2026 14:36

What do you see as the public interest?

Many people would say the death penalty is not in the public interest in the first place.

Don’t know about that. It’s pretty effective in preventing parole boards from releasing dangerous prisoners back onto the streets to kill again. Surely that’s in the public interest ?

Eristealviper · 01/10/2026 14:44

ClaudiaWankleman · 01/10/2026 14:36

What do you see as the public interest?

Many people would say the death penalty is not in the public interest in the first place.

Public interest is actually Media personnel keeping a Public Record of the whole thing , & some have to be there for that.

SonK · 01/10/2026 14:44

She tortured a young girl, and bragged about it, carrying a piece of her skull as a souvenir.

What happened to her during the execution was brutal.

This was due to the executioners /systems incompetence / failure, however, there are a lot of people like me who genuinely believe in Karma.

What happened is wrong, but maybe that is just life - your actions have consequences and you cannot have an easy escape in some awful cases

Rosscameasdoody · 01/10/2026 14:45

Eristealviper · 01/10/2026 14:44

Public interest is actually Media personnel keeping a Public Record of the whole thing , & some have to be there for that.

Agree with this. It’s a safeguard. Would we even have known about Pike otherwise ?

louderthan · 01/10/2026 14:46

https://nashvillebanner.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Dr.-Brand-Forensic-Psychological-Evaluation_Christa-Pike_07.29.23.pdf

You can read the forensic psychologist's report. It is an absolutely horrifying account of neglect and physical and sexual abuse pretty much from birth, resulting in severe PTSD and disassociative behavours, as well as possible bipolar.

https://nashvillebanner.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Dr.-Brand-Forensic-Psychological-Evaluation_Christa-Pike_07.29.23.pdf

Rosscameasdoody · 01/10/2026 14:47

SonK · 01/10/2026 14:44

She tortured a young girl, and bragged about it, carrying a piece of her skull as a souvenir.

What happened to her during the execution was brutal.

This was due to the executioners /systems incompetence / failure, however, there are a lot of people like me who genuinely believe in Karma.

What happened is wrong, but maybe that is just life - your actions have consequences and you cannot have an easy escape in some awful cases

But the state doesn’t mete out retribution, and Karma isn’t conventional justice. No matter what the crime, if the state allows the death penalty then surely it must be done swiftly and with the minimum pain/distress to get the job done. Otherwise the state is no better than the criminal.

InterIgnis · 01/10/2026 14:51

ClaudiaWankleman · 01/10/2026 14:36

What do you see as the public interest?

Many people would say the death penalty is not in the public interest in the first place.

It’s not about what I see as the public interest. It’s what the state has deemed to be in the public interest.

The press are there for transparency. They are a neutral party to provide oversight and to record the judicial process to the end.

SonK · 01/10/2026 14:53

Rosscameasdoody · 01/10/2026 14:47

But the state doesn’t mete out retribution, and Karma isn’t conventional justice. No matter what the crime, if the state allows the death penalty then surely it must be done swiftly and with the minimum pain/distress to get the job done. Otherwise the state is no better than the criminal.

I agree with you, that's why I said what happened is wrong, legally and morally - but life sometimes just takes its own course of action in the form of karma.

Actually, a lot of inmates who are in for torture crimes of women and children end up getting brutally tortured by other inmates in jail, especially in the states.
Of course, it's wrong and illegal, but perhaps it is just karma?