Christa Pike's condition 'bodes well for a good recovery.' What happens to her next?

Christa Pike is conscious and speaking in the hospital after surviving Tennessee's attempt to execute her last week, an outcome her legal team described as "unprecedented," and one that has raised questions about what happens next in her case.

Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, and spent 30 years on death row. Her execution was scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30, but two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital failed to kill her. She was taken to the hospital, where she received lifesaving care.

Pike's survival has brought intense scrutiny to Tennessee's execution procedures. Gov. Bill Lee suspended the one remaining execution scheduled for this year, and the state's top prison official, Correction Commissioner Frank Strada, is stepping down at the end of October.

Pike's lawyers said the resignation was "justified, but it does nothing to help Christa now. What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person," they said in a statement issued Sunday, according to ABC News.

Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, described the situation as a "mess" and said she was left without justice.

What is Christa Pike's condition?

When Pike arrived at the hospital, her arms were "swollen, burned and blistered," her lawyers wrote in a legal filing Friday. Her lawyers believe the IV lines were placed incorrectly or her veins burst, so that some or all of the drug went into the tissue of her arms instead of her bloodstream.

"Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care," her legal team wrote in a statement issued Tuesday. "Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery."

More details on her condition were shared during a legal hearing on Wednesday. Luke Ihnen, another member of Pike’s legal team, said she had only regained consciousness on Tuesday and was “speaking minimally.”

Dr. Joel Zivot, a medical expert who has consulted with Pike's legal team, told the Associated Press that the latest update "bodes well for a good recovery," but said that the full picture of her long-term health will not be clear for some time.

"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," he said. "There's still a lot of bad things that can happen here."

via REUTERS / REUTERS

Deborah Denno, a criminologist and professor at Fordham Law School, told the BBC that she was "absolutely astonished" that Pike was conscious and speaking. "They did everything they were supposed to do as part of the execution process, and it simply didn't work," she said. "This has never happened before."

Dr. Zivot told the BBC that her survival was "unusual," adding, "Most people who get lethal injection die from it. In fact, pretty well everyone, except Christa."

Seattle University Law Professor Michael Russo told the Associated Press, "There's nobody else in the history of the death penalty in this country who has gone through what she's been through."

The incident with Pike comes a handful of months after the botched attempt to execute Tony Carruthers. In May, Tennessee stopped the execution of Carruthers after staff placed an IV into his right arm, but were unable to insert a secondary IV line.

What happens next?

Tennessee officials have not said whether they will try to execute Pike again or explained what went wrong.

Her condition could complicate any future attempt. Under Supreme Court precedent, a person can't be executed unless they have a "rational understanding" of why they are being put to death, the New York Times reported.

Pike's lawyers have called for her sentence to be commuted. Gov. Lee had denied her clemency before the execution attempt.

"I think at the very least the governor should commute Ms. Pike's death sentence to a life sentence," attorney Stephen Ferrell told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. "We don't know what her physical state will be, but it is clear that she has endured a torturous attempt at executing her."

Dr. Zivot said it remains unclear how much pentobarbital entered Pike's system, how much remained in her blood after the injection and what effects she could still experience as she recovers. "I would not, in any way, say at this point that all the big risks are behind her," he said.

Professor Russo doubted whether the Supreme Court would stop the state from trying again on double jeopardy grounds — the constitutional protection against being tried or punished twice for the same offense — should it decide to do so.

He said, "I think what this Supreme Court would say is, her sentence was to die — to be executed — not to suffer an attempt at execution."

"We're in uncharted territory," Robin Maher, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, told USA Today. "The U.S. Supreme Court has not decided whether a second execution attempt would violate the Constitution since 1947. These are questions that have never needed to be asked before, and no one knows the answers."