A hearing in Knoxville, Tenn., to review the planned execution of Christa Gail Pike ended Tuesday, leaving Judge Ward to issue findings by Friday, Aug. 21. The judge did not rule from the bench.
That is why Christa Pike is drawing fresh attention now: her execution is still scheduled for September, and the hearing was meant to sort through the legal and factual questions that could affect what happens next. Pike is the only woman on death row in Tennessee, a fact that gives this review outsized weight even before the judge’s written findings are released.
Ward told the court he will answer four of the five questions the Tennessee Supreme Court asked him to address. The court agreed he will not take up the fifth, which concerns whether the Tennessee Department of Corrections is required or will allow Pike to have a clergy member or spiritual advisor in the execution chamber during her execution. Ward also said the Tennessee Supreme Court must assess the likelihood that Pike’s collateral litigation could succeed before deciding whether to grant a stay of execution. No formal complaint laying out that collateral litigation has been filed yet.
The second day of testimony turned to Pike’s mental health and her history of childhood sexual violence. Dr. Bethany Brand described Pike as a very abused girl and told the court the assaults began when Pike was in pre-K. She said Pike survived multiple rapes by at least six different people through childhood and adolescence, and described an incident at age 11 in which Pike was pinned down and sexually assaulted with sticks and an animal. Brand warned that the state’s execution protocol would be highly triggering for someone with that history, saying Pike could be transported back in time to when she was raped and could respond with a defense cascade that leaves the body rigid or shut down.
Brand also said death watch would be very psychologically harmful for someone with Pike’s history. She suggested hanging might be less damaging psychologically, but Tennessee does not allow hangings as a form of execution, and Warden Kenneth Nelsen said there is no execution protocol for hanging. That leaves the court with a narrow set of options and a fast-approaching deadline: Ward’s findings are due Friday, Aug. 21, and they will help shape whether Pike’s September execution moves forward on schedule.
In the afternoon, the state called Dr. Richard Mansour, a hematologist from LSU, who disagreed with the defense’s claim that Pike’s blood disorder makes her un-executable. The hearing is over, but the question at its center is not. Ward has yet to say whether the record he now has will be enough for the Tennessee Supreme Court to act before September arrives.
