How Common Are Botched Executions? Here's What the Data Shows
The failed lethal injection was Tennessee’s second botched execution this year, and researchers say 276 of 8,776 executions studied were botched.
- Death row inmate Christa Pike survived a failed execution Wednesday in Tennessee after officials administered two doses of pentobarbital; she remained breathing and was transported by ambulance from the prison.
- This incident marks the second botched execution in Tennessee this year, following Tony Carruthers' failed lethal injection in May when officials could not secure a backup IV line required by protocol.
- Austin Sarat, a professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, defines botched executions as involving unanticipated problems causing unnecessary suffering. The Death Penalty Information Center tracks such incidents since 1982.
- The Death Penalty Information Center lists 64 executions or attempted executions since 1982, with 51 involving lethal injection. Sarat identifies this method as having the highest rate of botched attempts among all execution methods.
- Sarat found 276 botched executions out of 8,776 cases examined between 1890 and 2010, yet no previous instance matched Pike's circumstances of surviving two lethal doses—making her case historically unprecedented.
62 Articles
62 Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
PressNewsAgencyHow Christa Pike’s botched Tennessee execution unfolded, minute by minute
Pike, now 50, was 18 when she committed the murder and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. But instead she survived two doses of the pentobarbital meant to kill her. She left the prison in an ambulance instead of a hearse.
Christa Pike in a critical condition in hospital after botched execution
Her lawyer called the process cruel and said he was “haunted” by watching and hearing his client talking, singing and then snoring loudly during her more than 90 minutes in the death chamber.
'Conspiracy' Speculation Erupts After Botched Execution of Christa Pike: 'There's No Way'
Amid an official vacuum to explain why Christa Pike’s Wednesday night execution was botched, social media is filling the void by invoking Conspiracy theories. Pike did not die after two […]
In Tennessee State, Christa Gail Pike, who was sentenced to death, is in critical condition after surviving a failed lethal injection, is told by her lawyers that the executioners tried to give the woman an IV for an hour. The lawyers counted at least seven needle marks on her left hand alone, one of which was bent. At one point Pike himself began to tell the team where to inject the needle because they couldn't find the vein, WKRN reports. Prot…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 71% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
