A Tennessee judge granted a motion to preserve relevant evidence in the botched execution of Christa Pike.

The lone woman on Tennessee's death row survived being administered two lethal doses of pentobarbital and remains hospitalized following the failed Sept. 30 execution in Nashville, her attorneys said.

Pike was sentenced to death after being convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Her attempted execution by lethal injection came after a series of last-minute legal challenges.

Pike's attorneys had filed an emergency motion in Davidson County Chancery Court last week seeking an order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) to protect and preserve "any and all evidence related" related to the execution attempt, which they allege was "cruel and unusual punishment."

"In light of the manifest violation of Ms. Pike's constitutional rights, the actionable nature of that violation, and the reasonable foreseeability of litigation, the Defendants have an affirmative duty to preserve all relevant physical, written, and electronic evidence," the filing stated.

Following arguments from Pike's attorney and the state, Chancellor I’Ashea Myles granted the motion.

"This case is unique, to say the least," she said. "In light of the evolving situation, the court will pen and grant its own order, granting the motion to preserve relevant evidence."

The evidence ordered preserved and maintained includes all photographs, video recordings, audio recordings and surveillance footage of the execution; all drugs, syringes, IV lines and tubing that are in the state's possession; and all handwritten notes and logs, checklists, timelines, incident report and witness accounts.

She also included all communications regarding the execution and
"anything concerning the deviation" from protocol and "anything concerning any complications, delays, equipment issues, anything in regards to the ability to access veins -- just the administration of this particular execution. It needs to all be maintained."

Wednesday's hearing came a day after Pike's attorneys said she regained consciousness after the failed execution left her critically injured and temporarily on a ventilator. During the hearing, one of Pike's attorneys, Luke Ihnen with the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, told the court that she is "speaking limitedly."

During arguments on preserving evidence from the botched execution, Ihnen told the court, "We don't know what they have because they won't tell us, and so the preservation order seeks the broadest possible preservation of evidence."

"Everything they have in their possession should be preserved," he said.

"Before yesterday, we didn't know if Miss Pike was ever going to regain consciousness or speak. She has, and so we've come to this court," Ihnen said. "We didn't have a reason to visit our client until yesterday, and so you know, it's evolving for all of us, and TDOC has continued to put up these barriers to access."

Assistant Attorney General for the State of Tennessee Will Ayers told the court that the state is working with Pike's counsel to ensure that she is able to "get the evidence that they believe they're entitled to" and that TDOC has already been instructed to preserve evidence that is covered under a federal case involving another Tennessee death row inmate.

"TDOC has advised us that evidence, physical evidence, was collected from the execution chamber on the night of September 30th, and has been logged into a preservation room," Ayers told the court. "Among the things collected are logbooks, observation logs, medical waste and products, EKG readouts."

Ayers said there are some items that may not be in TDOC's possession, such as portions of the IV lines.

"There may be portions of those IV lines that could have been still attached to Miss Pike when she was transported to the hospital," he said.

In issuing her order, Myles said she will not rely on the federal case cited by the state.

"To any extent that any information or any evidence has already been discarded, deleted, destroyed or no longer exists, I want TDOC to take an affirmative step to try to claw back that information and put in policies and procedures while this litigation is pending to ensure that no information is discarded and/or destroyed," she said.

According to the motion filed by Pike's attorneys, Pike "could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly" while being administered two lethal doses of pentobarbital, at one point stating that her arm "feels like it's about to burst open." At least seven needles were used to gain IV access, with one "bent in a 90-degree angle when it was removed," the motion stated.

The motion described pentobarbital, a sedating medication, as being "caustic and highly alkaline" and that it "burns upon contact." Both of Pike's arms were "swollen, burned, and blistered" when she arrived at a Nashville-area hospital, the motion stated.

Pike had raised concerns about a lethal injection in a complaint filed months prior to her scheduled execution, arguing that her "thrombocytosis, post-traumatic stress disorder and small veins 'make it sure or very likely that there is a substantial risk that she will experience unnecessary and superadded pain and suffering, terror, and disgrace,'" the motion stated.

Ihnen said during Wednesday's hearing that "based on what we know about Miss Pike's current condition, these allegations that were made in the complaint certainly appear to be at least related to the botched execution."

Asked directly by Chancellor Myles at one point if he can answer whether Pike's execution will be rescheduled, Ayers said he is not in a position to answer that.

In an update Tuesday, Pike's attorneys said she was conscious and speaking, alling her recovery "medically unprecedented."

"Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery," her attorneys -- Ihnen, as well as Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason from the Tennessee Office of the Post Conviction Defender and Stephen Ferrell from the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee -- said in a statement.

TDOC confirmed Tuesday that Pike remains hospitalized but said it could not provide details of her medical condition due to federal privacy laws.

In the wake of the botched execution, TDOC said that it "followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office."

"The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out [that] evening," the statement continued.

Pike's attorneys said Tuesday they continue to ask Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

She is the first person reported to have survived lethal injection after being given medications, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, whose executive director referred to the failed attempt as "the worst we've ever seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era."

In the wake of the botched execution, Gov. Lee ordered a temporary halt to scheduled executions in the state and TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada resigned.

The governor's office said in a statement that it has also appointed former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct an independent review of TDOC's execution attempt that "will seek to determine whether the protocol was followed and consider whether additional recommendations are necessary to ensure the State's protocol continues to be lawful and effective."

"The State previously retained Stanton in 2022 to conduct an independent review of Tennessee's lethal injection protocol. His work prompted the State and Attorney General's Office to substantially rewrite the protocol before executions resumed," the statement further said.

The botched execution comes after Tennessee's planned execution of Tony Carruthers in May had to be halted after authorities were unable to find a suitable vein to place an IV to administer the injection after trying for over an hour, his attorneys said at the time. Gov. Lee granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve. 

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