Africa & World
US execution of Christa Pike halted at last minute
A US appeals court issued a temporary stay as Pike’s lawyers challenged aspects of her case, shortly after the US Supreme Court rejected her request to halt the execution.
Picture: Times of Zambia
The execution of US inmate Christa Pike has been halted shortly before she was due to be put to death in Tennessee, according to the BBC.
Pike, 50, had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
The Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on Wednesday, giving judges more time to consider arguments in Pike’s case. The court did not say how long the stay would last.
The development came after the US Supreme Court rejected Pike’s request for a stay and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declined her request for clemency earlier this week.
Pike’s lawyers have challenged aspects of her case, including the State’s previous position concerning her claims of childhood sexual abuse.
Lakatips
Advertise on Lakatips
Reach readers following the national conversation
Display, sponsored placements and briefing slots — across politics, business and sport.
The lawyers argue that Tennessee had previously maintained that Pike had lied about being abused, but during a recent hearing the State said it did not dispute that she had suffered sexual abuse and rape.
Her legal team asked the appeals court to send the matter back to the district court, arguing that the earlier position could have affected the federal review of her case.
The appeal that resulted in Wednesday’s stay is separate from the appeal taken to the US Supreme Court, which declined to grant a stay.
Pike’s lawyers have also challenged Tennessee’s lethal-injection method, arguing that it could cause unnecessary suffering.
Tennessee’s Attorney General said the State would continue to defend the sentence and has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn the stay.
Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were convicted of murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville in 1995.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996, while Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
The BBC reports that Pike has a history of childhood sexual abuse, abandonment and neglect. Her lawyers argue that she would not receive a death sentence if convicted of the same crime as a teenager today.
Last year, Tennessee’s Supreme Court ruled that Pike had not shown circumstances that would justify commuting her sentence, according to the BBC.
If the execution proceeds, Pike would be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Photo:Christa Pike seen at a hearing for a new trial on January 12, 2001.
Knoxville News Sentinel/USA Today Network/Imagn Images
Source: Times of Zambia — Read more
More to read
All Africa & World →No Presidential Petition Before the Constitutional Court
The Judiciary says there is NO Presidential petition before the Constitutional Court....
‘Restore access to courts,’ Zambian lawyers knock govt over closure of courts amid post-election battles
The Law Association of Zambia has called for the immediate restoration of access to courts following the closure of superior courts in Lusaka and the deployment of heavily armed military personnel around court premises. LAZ president, Arnold Kaluba, expressed concern over the shutdown, which occurred…
Solwezi court refers Mundubile, Zulu sedition case to High Court
Principal Resident Magistrate, Mambwe Mukonde, has referred the two-count sedition case involving former 2026 NRPUP presidential candidate Brian Mundubile and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, to the High Court after ruling that the Solwezi Magistrates’ Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. Citing provisions of…