Christa Pikes is awake and ‘talking’

[wouldntyouwanthelp]

She’s out of the coma and talking to her lawyers. Aibu to think the state of Tennessee can’t possibly try to do the lethal injection again ? Surely not? People on Reddit are suggesting she might need an amputation of one of her arms because of how caustic pentobarbital is.

Christa Pike 'conscious and speaking at hospital' after failed execution in US
https://news.sky.com/share/13595950

That sounds like an emotionally manipulative statement from them. How can we know anything about whether someone's soul can rest or not? We can't. It's desire for retribution, understandably so. Saw a man being interviewed on all this the other night, some kind of expert, who said that when you live in a country that permits the death penalty, it can feel like you're being denied a right when it doesn't work out that way. I agree that it's barbaric even if I understand the desire for retribution.

My sympathy is only with the victim and her family.

A person having an abusive childhood should have no bearing on the consequences they receive for harming another human. The fact that they were harmed doesn't make the harm they enacted any less severe, and it doesn't make them any less dangerous to society. It makes it all much sadder, but that's about it.

I don't understand how people (and pets) can be killed with euthanasia with no problem, yet there's always trouble finding the right drugs for executions, and then something like this hapens. They clearly need to change the rules so that the same drugs that are used for euthanasia are allowed for executions. If medical knowledge is required for this, surely they can find and train up a few people willing to take on the role of executioner.

1)Euthanasia does have a failure rate 2)there is an expectation of doctors being involved in euthanasia but not in execution, 3)drug companies refuse to supply effective execution drugs for execution

I expect they'll commute her death sentence, as a kind of apology for this travesty. I really can't imagine that they'll put her to death now. She'll probably do life without parole - which also sounds horrendous. Imagine knowing that you're never, ever going to be free again.

After this, I'm beginning to see why hanging used to be the method of choice. It's really grim but at least it was always effective. There have been many other instances of executions via drugs going wrong. Idaho recently introduced death by firing squad, which sounds horrific. 🫨 I don't expect it'll ever actually happen. There would be multiple legal challenges and surely it would come under "cruel and unusual punishment," as I imagine what happened to Pike would, too.

I don't feel very sorry for her. Not only did she carry out a truly vicious and cruel murder, she also tried to murder another inmate in 2021. There's something wrong with that woman. But it's unacceptable for executions to go wrong like this.

Quote "How can we know anything about whether someone's soul can rest or not?"

I am atheist so do not believe in souls. I am also ex Christian though, and I remember my "seeing the light" moment when I became a Christian. And the biggest part of that, for me, was forgiveness. And the way I interpreted the Bible would mean that any Christian wanting someone executed, rather than forgiven, would seal the eternal fate of the person demanding death. As in, going down rather than up.

And the executed person of course, per the Bible (NT), if they repent and beg for forgiveness, they go up,

I am also 100% against the death penalty. Not on religious grounds obviously, rather I do not think the State should have the right to take a life.

But more suffering isn't going to change that.

Because surely this now falls under "cruel and unusual" punishment which is ruled out by the constitution.

The argument is that she’s already suffered cruel and unusual punishment because the misplacement of the drug that was supposed to go into her bloodstream has caused torturous pain, already and is also likely to cause permanent disability . I agree with this and don’t believe that further attempts for the state to end her life should happen. This is different to a malfunction which doesn’t cause the condemned pain.

I do feel for Colleen Slemmer’s mum though. It’s a nightmare for her that she can’t ever wake from.

Clearly Christa Pike shouldn’t ever be released because she tries to kill anyone who upsets her.

I have very mixed feelings about it. I've always been quite a bit more against it than for it. It doesn't bring the victim back. And it condemns the criminal's loved ones to the living hell of bereavement, although they've done nothing wrong. And I was concerned that it's uncivilised. However, it's easy to have concerns about that when it's not YOUR loved one that's been tortured to death. I think it's a kind of luxury belief.

For all my reservations about the death penalty, the older I get and the more I see people getting away with murder in various court cases, and the more I hear the absolute shit that comes out of these murderers' mouths in trying to justify themselves, the more patience I lose and the warmer I feel towards the death penalty. I think these murderers are full of it. I don't care if you had a bad childhood, that is NO excuse for rape, torture and murder. They did not have to do it, they chose to, and part of me thinks they deserve the ultimate punishment.

But again, swinging back the other way, it was EXTREMELY sobering to see a photo of an execution room. The idea that the state can capture you, strap you down, and stick a needle in you that ends your life is deeply sinister.

So I guess you could say I'm confused.

I don't feel much sympathy for Pike. There are no words to describe how sickening her crime was.

Quote "Clearly Christa Pike shouldn’t ever be released because she tries to kill anyone who upsets her."

I have never heard this. Has she attempted murder while on death row ?

Her crimes are horrific, and deserving of a lengthy sentence, but I do fundamentally think reformation ought to be one of the fundamental aims of any justice system, and you'd think that an 18 year old who was subject to serious childhood abuse is as good a candidate as any murderer can be.

I also think that almost 30 years of de facto solitary confinement (as the only female in high security) is horrific in itself - and now this.

Appalling crime, appalling justice. Just a horrific matter all around.

why would she not go back on the execution rota when it starts again? Bit strange they have paused it for this year. What’s the difference between 31/12/26 and say 31/01/2027?

Yeah, if I was queen for a day, I wouldn't let another execution go ahead. I'd commuter her sentence to life without parole.

So, they weren't able to kill her, despite all those drugs. I guess she is a witch, after all.

@RedTagAlan read it as tried not tries

Yes, someone upset her in 2021 and she tried to kill them. Was charged for attempted murder. It involved strangling with a shoelace.

Probably for the same reason anyone takes medicine when they are ill, rather than, you know, just dying.

Our instinct is to live, and to preserve life.

The American certainly don't mess about when it comes to handing out punishment. Agree about the solitary, but she did try to murder another inmate in 2021, so maybe she was in solitary for a reason.

It was 2001. She attempted to kill another inmate (Patricia Jones) who, at that time, was trying to kill another inmate. Patricia Jones herself has since written in support of a clemency appeal for Pike, saying Pike did the right thing in intervening.

Because lethal injection looks humane to observers. It's not, as this case makes patently clear.

They used pentobarbital, which is what the vets use to put animals to sleep.

It sounds like they didn't get the catheter in correctly, and the solution then went perivascular.

It's a colossal bugger up. The vets never get it wrong. Heads should be rolling over whoever put her catheter in - you just flush some saline and check it is flowing correctly. I just can't understand it.

Heads should be rolling over whoever put her catheter in - you just flush some saline and check it is flowing correctly. I just can't understand it.

My understanding is that these are not medical staff, they are possibly just prison staff.

Apparently God decided otherwise.

To be fair, imprisoning someone in prison for decades/the rest of their life, surrounded by other violent people, away from their families, and unable to actually live an even vaguely normal, fulfilling life, isn't particularly humane either - but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.