Christa Pike now 'up and walking,' lawyer says: What's next?
Christa Pike's lawyers speak after court hearing
Attorneys for Christa Pike spoke Wednesday afternoon and detailed the first words she said after she woke up and realized her execution had failed.
A day after waking up from a failed execution attempt, Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike was "up and walking" in her hospital room late Wednesday, her lawyers said.
Attorney Stephen Farrell shared the update in an interview with BBC Radio.
Christa Pike ‘up and walking’
What they're saying:
"She is up and walking for the first time today, but just around the room, not very far," lawyer Stephen Farrell told BBC Radio.
Christa Pike (Photo: TN Department of Correction)
"What's been described to me is that physically there's quite a bit going on, that her arms are very injured and she's not able to use them very much."
When asked about her mental state, Farrell said it’s "kind of good and bad."
RELATED: What Christa Pike said when she woke up Wednesday
"Good that she is fairly with it, but she's also somewhat foggy. She can lose her train of thought really easily and forgets where she's going," he said. "There could be some permanent damage. We don't know that yet."
Farrell said it’s imperative that Pike gets psychological support, in addition to medical treatment, because it’s "clearly necessary now."
What happened to Christa Pike?
The backstory:
Pike, 50, was 18 years old when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a jealous rage in 1995. Before her failed execution last week, she was set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
MORE: Christa Pike latest: Tennessee prisons chief resigns after failed execution
A federal appeals court briefly paused the execution on Sept. 30 and said more time was needed to consider her lawyers’ last-ditch appeals, but the Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed after a nine-hour delay.
Failed execution: What's next for Christa Pike?
Legal questions remain as Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, survived a double dose of the lethal drug used to execute prisoners in the state. Peter Christiansen, a criminal defense attorney spoke with LiveNOW's Josh Breslow about the next steps in the process.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, declined to intervene and allow Pike to serve a life sentence.
After the state administered two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital, witnesses said Pike was still alive and snoring.
Pike was taken to a hospital, where she remained unconscious and on life support for several days. Before she woke up Tuesday morning, it appeared Pike was likely braindead and would be taken off life support soon.
"She is angry and confused about everything right now," her attorney Randy Spivey said during a press conference Wednesday.
What’s next for Christa Pike?
What's next:
It’s still unclear what’s next for Pike: Her case is unprecedented, as she’s believed to be the only person to ever survive two shots of lethal injection during an execution. Although she’s awake and walking, her prognosis is still unknown and at the very least, "she has a long road to recovery," her lawyers said.
Christa Pike's attorney calls for commutation of death sentence
Christa Pike’s lawyer is calling for her death-row sentence to be commuted, saying that her "tortuous" failed execution is punishment enough even for her "awful crime." Steve Ferrell joined LiveNOW from FOX's Josh Breslow to provide the latest updates on his client and discuss the outcomes he's hoping to achieve.
At a hearing Wednesday, the court ordered the Tennessee Department of Correction to save evidence in the case and provide more information about what went wrong. Her lawyers say that could pave the way for a future lawsuit against the state, but there are obstacles.
"Part of the issue that we are facing is up until yesterday, our client was unconscious, unable to communicate with counsel, unable to communicate with medical providers, and without her consent" a new lawsuit cannot be filed, Luke Ihnen, a federal public defender, told the court Wednesday.
Pike’s lawyers are now calling on Gov. Lee to commute Pike’s death sentence and let her serve life in prison without parole.
The Source: This article includes information from BBC Radio, The Associated Press and previous FOX Local reporting.