Lawyer Shares New Details of Christa Pike's Condition

Tennessee has been ordered not to throw anything away from the night it tried and failed to execute Christa Pike. A Nashville chancellor on Wednesday told the state to preserve all materials tied to the botched lethal injection—IV lines, needles, drugs, medical records, photos, videos, notes, and witness accounts—after Pike's lawyers argued the evidence is vital to protecting her constitutional rights and "any future [legal] challenge that she makes," NBC News reports. Pike, 50, spent six days unconscious on a ventilator after two doses of pentobarbital failed to kill her. The Guardian reports lawyer Randy Spivey shed more light on her current state at a press conference:

• "On Monday night, it was our understanding that Christa was brain dead, and that life support would be removed the next day. But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone, including me, including her team, and including the medical team, Christa woke up and began talking."
• "Our understanding was the first thing she said was 'Where am I and who are you?' There's still a lot of cognitive confusion, and so I will say that she has wanted to know what's happened, and she's asked about several people. She's asked about her team. She's asked about the victim's family ... I think she is angry and confused about everything right now. She is very aware that the state tried to execute her."
• "Christa has a long road to recovery. She has a blood clot in one of her arms. She has pneumonia. She is not able to swallow yet, so she is not eaten. She cannot move either of her arms. ... Her hands looked like if you were to blow up a surgical [glove]."