Execution of US murderer Christa Pike halted just before it was due
Tennessee halted the execution of 50-year-old Christa Pike about an hour before it was scheduled, after an appeals court said it needed more time to review her case.
The execution of Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike, 50, was halted on Wednesday just over an hour before it was due to take place. Pike was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer.
Judges from the Sixth Circuit Appeals court ruled that they needed more time to consider the arguments raised in Pike's case, and it remains unclear how long the pause will last.
The stay comes after the Supreme Court had already denied Pike a reprieve, and after Tennessee's governor declined earlier this week to grant her clemency.
Dispute over abuse claims
Pike's lawyers said that for years the state of Tennessee had argued in court that she lied about being sexually abused as a child. However, at a recent hearing concerning her execution method, the state said it no longer disputes that she suffered sexual abuse and rape.
Her legal team asked the appeals court to send her motion back to the district court, arguing that if federal courts had based their earlier ruling on the state's claim that she was lying, then the federal review process had been compromised.
The appeal that resulted in Wednesday's stay is separate from the one the Supreme Court refused to hear. It stems from Pike's challenge to Tennessee's lethal injection method, which her lawyers argue could cause suffering beyond what is constitutionally permitted, and they contend the state's procedures denied her a fair opportunity to prove this.
Tennessee's Attorney General said in a statement that the state would continue advocating for the lawfully imposed sentence while courts work through the issue, adding that last-minute defence objections after decades of litigation are common in capital cases. The state is asking the US Supreme Court to lift the stay.
