Texas execution scheduled after failed Tennessee lethal injection

Texas was scheduled on Wednesday to execute Jamaal Howard, a death-row prisoner convicted of capital murder, in what would be the first US execution since Christa Pike survived a failed lethal-injection attempt in Tennessee on 30 September. The planned execution comes as Howard’s lawyers argue that Texas’s supply of pentobarbital may have degraded and as Tennessee investigates Pike’s case.¹²

Texas case

According to the Guardian, a 2001 capital-murder conviction against 46-year-old Howard arose from a convenience-store robbery in Silsbee, north of Beaumont, during which 42-year-old clerk Vickie Swartout was shot dead. His lawyers have argued that he was intellectually disabled when the crime occurred and was therefore not eligible for a death sentence.¹

His legal team has sought details of the pentobarbital dose Texas planned to administer and filed a motion contending that the state’s drugs could be beyond their permitted beyond-use dates. The lawyers said there was “a similar risk” that the drugs had degraded. According to the Guardian, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to stop the execution. A Texas attorney general opinion on the requested drug information was not expected until after Wednesday, and state officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment that morning.¹

Tennessee aftermath

Pike, 50, survived two pentobarbital injections during the 30 September execution attempt in Tennessee and was taken to hospital. She was initially unconscious and in critical condition, according to the BBC. Her lawyers had previously said that a blood disorder could make lethal injection painful; during the attempt, Pike said “her arms felt like they were going to explode”, according to the Guardian.¹²

By 8 October, Stephen Ferrell, a lawyer on Pike’s legal team, told the BBC that she was “up and walking” around her hospital room, though he said she remained mentally foggy. Ferrell said Pike was “fairly well” but had badly injured arms and could use them only to a limited extent. He said it was not yet known whether she would have permanent damage. Her legal team said psychological support was necessary and opposed another lethal-injection attempt.²

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom Pike and Tadaryl Shipp beat, tortured and killed after meeting her at a job-training camp, according to the BBC. Shipp was spared a death sentence because he was not legally an adult at the time of the crime and remains imprisoned.²

Official response

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered an investigation into why Pike’s execution failed and paused all executions in the state for the remainder of the year. The BBC reported that Tennessee's prisons chief will step down in the wake of the unsuccessful execution attempt. A representative for the Tennessee attorney general said it was not known whether Pike’s execution would be rescheduled.¹²

Judge I’Ashea Myles ordered the preservation of evidence and documentation relating to Pike’s psychological condition. Myles said that “anything that was in the actual room needs to be preserved and maintained”. Separately, Republican Tennessee governor candidate Marsha Blackburn called for use of the electric chair.²