Pike conscious after failed execution in US, lawyers say

Christa Pike, who survived a Tennessee execution attempt last week, is conscious and speaking as she receives treatment in hospital, her lawyers have said.

"Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care," her lawyers said in a statement.

"Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed.

"Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery."

Her lawyers said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital "who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her".

The statement was the first indication that Pike has improved since an ambulance took her from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Correction said she could provide no information other than that Pike remained in hospital on Tuesday.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as Tennessee officials attempted to put her to death.

She was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer.

Dr Joel Zivot, a professor of anaesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike's legal team, said the development in her condition "bodes well for a good recovery".

But, he added, it could be weeks or months before anyone knows exactly what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored to a level that might enable the state to try again to execute her.

"She’s still in the ICU," he said. "She has recovered to a certain degree that she’s able to be off a ventilator and able to speak, but in no way would I announce her free of further serious risk.

"There’s still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well."

Pike’s lawyers are set to go to court tomorrow as they seek to learn more about what happened in the failed lethal injection.

They are seeking a court order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence, including drug lot numbers, records and other information from the attempted execution on 30 September.

Pike's botched execution at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, the second this year in Tennessee, highlights the difficulties US states face in carrying out lethal injections and finding suitable alternative methods of capital punishment.