TENNESSEE: COURT HALTS CHRISTA PIKE’S EXECUTION AT LAST MINUTE

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A federal appeals court on Wednesday halted the scheduled execution of Christa Pike, the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row, about an hour before she was due to be put to death.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued the temporary stay to review arguments from Pike’s lawyers seeking to reopen proceedings related to her claims of extensive sexual and physical abuse during her childhood. The state acknowledged the abuse during a special hearing in August.

The court said the stay was necessary to properly consider the arguments before making a decision on the merits.

Pike’s execution had been scheduled for 10 a.m. local time in Nashville. It remained unclear how long the stay would remain in effect.

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Stephen Ferrell of the Federal Defenders Services of Eastern Tennessee, who is part of Pike’s legal team, said the court’s decision recognised serious concerns surrounding the scheduled execution.

The development came after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined to grant Pike clemency and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected her petition on Tuesday evening.

Pike, 50, has spent more than three decades on death row. In a letter written before learning that Lee had rejected her clemency request, she said she was at peace with the possibility of dying.

“I am not afraid to die,” Pike wrote. “I’m only nervous about the process.”

Conviction and murder case

Pike was 18 in 1995 when she and two teenage accomplices were accused of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student in their Job Corps training programme.

According to police, the group lured Slemmer to an abandoned steam plant near the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she was attacked and fatally beaten. Investigators said the killing involved occult imagery after a pentagram was carved into Slemmer’s chest.

Pike has never disputed her involvement in the killing. However, her lawyers argue that jurors who sentenced her to death were not presented with extensive evidence about the abuse and neglect she experienced during childhood.

Her legal team contends that the evidence could have affected the outcome of her sentencing if it had been presented at the time.

Pike’s lawyers also raised concerns about her age at the time of the crime, arguing that developments in scientific understanding of adolescent brain development could have been relevant to her sentencing.

Claims of childhood abuse

According to records reviewed by Pike’s lawyers and psychologist Bethany Brand, Pike experienced years of physical and sexual abuse and neglect while growing up.

Brand, a psychologist specialising in trauma, assessed Pike and concluded that the abuse had contributed to significant psychological trauma. She said Pike had received treatment in prison and had developed greater empathy and remorse over the years.

Pike’s lawyers also argued that executing her through lethal injection could cause severe psychological distress because of her history of sexual abuse and trauma.

Tennessee officials disputed the legal basis for delaying the execution, arguing that a judge had previously determined that claims about additional psychological suffering during the execution were speculative.

Different sentences for accomplices

Pike’s lawyers have also highlighted the different sentences received by her two accomplices.

Tadaryl Shipp, Pike’s boyfriend, was 17 at the time of the killing and received a life sentence because he was a juvenile. He remains eligible for parole.

Shadolla Peterson, who was 18 and acted as a lookout, received probation in exchange for cooperating with authorities.

Pike, meanwhile, was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to death.

Victim’s family

May Martinez, Slemmer’s mother, has continued to oppose efforts to prevent Pike’s execution.

Martinez has described the lasting trauma caused by her daughter’s killing and the subsequent handling of Slemmer’s remains during the legal proceedings.

She has said that seeing Pike executed would represent justice for her daughter.

Execution preparations

Because executions of women are rare in Tennessee, corrections officials had planned special arrangements for Pike.

Female officers were expected to accompany her during her transfer from the women’s prison in Nashville to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Officials had also considered using an all-female execution team.

Pike’s spiritual adviser, Buddhist teacher Rev. Mikey Noechel, was expected to be permitted inside the execution chamber. He said he planned to chant and meditate with Pike if the execution proceeded.

The latest court ruling means Pike’s execution will not take place as originally scheduled while the appeals court considers her lawyers’ arguments.