Judge orders evidence preserved after Tennessee execution fails
What's next: Tennessee has paused executions for the rest of the year as lawyers press to spare Christa Pike from another attempt.
A Tennessee judge ordered state officials to preserve broad evidence from the failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike, who lawyers say is now conscious and speaking nearly a week after receiving two doses of pentobarbital. The case has opened new legal questions over whether the state can try to execute Pike again and by what method. Gov. Bill Lee has suspended Tennessee executions for the rest of the year and ordered an independent investigation. Pike was sentenced to die for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Her lawyers are seeking to commute her sentence to life without parole, while the Tennessee Supreme Court would decide any new execution date.