Christa Pike: What next after failed execution?

Charlotte Gallagher (0:00)

This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and in the early hours of Saturday, the 3rd of October, these are our main stories. What's next for death row inmate Christa Pike, as her lawyers say she's unconscious after the botched execution attempt. G7 nations will now release up to 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil in a bid to stop soaring prices. We're at Cornell University where rape allegations have sparked outrage among students and beyond.

Also in this podcast, why you could be able to buy an Argentinian passport and…

Wendy Okolo (0:46)

The leadership that she brings to this as an astronaut, as a woman and as a black woman.

Nathalie Milazzo (0:51)

I am so proud.

Charlotte Gallagher (0:53)

We hear about the first black woman to lead a crew to the International Space Station.

The first details have emerged about the condition of Christa Pike, the American woman who was taken from the execution chamber to a hospital room after surviving two lethal injections. Pike was given the death penalty for murdering Colleen Slemmer in 1995 Steven Hale, a criminal justice reporter for the Nashville Banner, was one of seven journalists who witnessed her botched execution in Tennessee. He told me what's known about Pike's current condition.

Steven Hale (1:33)

Her attorney said that as of last night, so Thursday night here in the US, that she was unconscious and breathing with the help of a ventilator.

They said that she was receiving, you know, life-preserving care basically. So that's the current situation on her condition.

Charlotte Gallagher (1:51)

What are the possible outcomes at this stage, if Christa does pull through? Because I know there have been situations in the past where they've tried to execute someone, it hasn't worked, and then they've done it again.

Steven Hale (2:04)

Yeah. So in Tennessee earlier this year, for instance, as you might know, we had an execution that was called off because the execution team was struggling and was not ever successful at getting IVs placed in the man's arms. His name was Tony Carruthers. His execution was called off. The governor gave him a one-year reprieve. So that just means they won't set an execution date for him for at least a year. But presumably at some point, the state may try to execute him again. In Christa Pike's case, obviously right now, like I said, she's in the hospital. Her legal status is a little unclear at the moment. Her attorneys have called on the governor to commute her sentence to life without parole.

The governor has not done that yet, but he does have the power to do that. He's leaving office later this year, and then we'll have an election for a new governor. So it's still very uncertain what this governor or a future governor would do in her case.

Charlotte Gallagher (2:59)

You actually witnessed this botched execution. Can you talk us through what that was like? Because for most people, that is a totally alien experience.

Steven Hale (3:10)

Yes, understandably. So the witness room in Tennessee here at the execution chamber, there's a small room and there's a large window in that room that looks into the execution chamber. And so when the execution begins, they pull the curtain open. And when they did that, Christa Pike is in there strapped to the gurney. After the drugs had been administered, and if everything was going according to plan, she would have almost appeared to be losing consciousness and then of course die. And that didn't happen. She kept breathing heavily, occasionally lifting off the gurney and kind of with her mouth gaping open.

They closed the curtain at one point, and we weren't sure what was happening because we could still hear her. So we knew she was still alive, and they opened the curtain and that's again, and they gave her a second dose of the lethal injection drug. And the same thing repeated itself.

Charlotte Gallagher (4:00)

It sounds actually really traumatic to witness that.

Steven Hale (4:04)

It was disturbing and I certainly can't pretend or I'd be lying if I said otherwise. But at the same time, it's important to me as a journalist that we witness these things so we can report on them.

You know, as far as traumatizing, I guess in the moment and in the day since, you know, I've been thinking a lot about Colleen Slemmer's mother and her family who were again there to witness this. And whatever anyone thinks of the death penalty as a policy, they have been told that this was justice for their daughter. That's what the system told them and they came to this prison to see this execution carried out. And then they had to watch what I just described as well. And that is hard to imagine. So yeah, it was disturbing. It was a disturbing night all around.