Tennessee is seeking to block Christa Pike's attorneys from accessing the lethal injection drug used in her failed execution on the grounds that it would reveal the supplier in violation of state law, court filings show.
The request follows a judge's order to preserve evidence in a lawsuit filed by Pike's attorneys and reflects the secrecy surrounding execution drugs, which states often argue is necessary to protect access to the drugs and the safety of suppliers.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital in September, which her attorneys say probably did not enter her bloodstream correctly and instead pooled in her arms, leaving them burned and blistered. The state has said it is complying with a broader order by Judge I’Ashea L. Myles requiring the preservation of evidence.
But in a Friday court filing, the state asked the judge to rescind the part of her order allowing Pike’s legal team to inspect, collect and test any leftover pentobarbital from the execution attempt.
In an affidavit cited in the state's filing, a Tennessee Department of Correction employee said the drug supplier would become identifiable if Pike’s legal team is allowed to handle vials of pentobarbital left over from the execution attempt, or review the vials’ labeling. The employee, whose name was not disclosed, wrote that residue of the pentobarbital used in Pike's botched execution is “most likely to be found” in vials of the substance used in the attempted execution.
The employee stated the state's supplier was concerned that even with redactions on the labels, the source of the pentobarbital would be identifiable. The employee said that another supplier had stopped communicating with the department in 2024 after its identity was exposed and that the state would likely be unable to find other providers if it lost access to its current source for the drug.
“Pike’s counsel and experts cannot be allowed to see, handle, or otherwise get the information on the leftover vials of pentobarbital from Pike’s attempted execution,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti wrote in a court filing.
Tennessee law prohibits the public disclosure of any individual or entity involved in procuring lethal substances or carrying out executions.
Luke Ihnen, a lawyer representing Pike, said that publicly identifying the state’s lethal injection drug supplier “has never been the goal” of the litigation.
He said that it is important for Pike's legal team to be able to review how the pentobarbital used in her botched execution was labeled and stored to understand if there were issues with how it was mixed, transported or handled, and whether it was expired.
“We still don't know exactly what happened that night,” Ihnen said. “Those types of things are all valuable pieces of information about what went wrong.”
Tennessee Department of Correction spokesperson Dorinda Carter declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Pike was hospitalized on a ventilator for days following the failed execution. She has returned to prison and said she remains in constant pain.
Pike and her boyfriend tortured and stabbed a 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, to death in 1995. Pike was 18 at the time, making her one of the youngest women sentenced to death. Slemmer’s mother had traveled from Florida to witness Pike’s execution.
Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, announced his resignation in the wake of Pike’s failed execution. The governor named Christopher Hansen as interim commissioner.
Pike's attorneys want Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who is set to leave office in January, to change her death sentence to life in prison. He has said that she will remain on death row unless a court determines otherwise. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the state's Republican governor-elect, has called for the state to explore alternative methods of execution, including the electric chair.
The governor has tapped a former U.S. attorney to conduct an independent review of the failed execution, and postponed the state’s other lethal injection scheduled for this year.
Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues
FILE- This photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows Christa Pike on Jan. 12, 2023. (TDOC via AP)
FILE - Attorneys for Christa Pike hold a news conference after a judge ruled the Tennessee Department of Correction must preserve all evidence related to the failed execution of Pike, Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep.-elect LaKesha Womack, a community organizer who stunned her own Democratic Party by defeating a well-known North Carolina Republican on her shoestring $56,000 campaign budget, said she's excited to arrive in Washington and show what's possible.
Rep.-elect Brian Poindexter said his win over incumbent GOP Rep. Max Miller ensures Ohio remains a very competitive swing state.
And Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot in New Jersey who said she's spent her whole life “trying to find the biggest, hardest problem to throw myself at,” was ready to give Congress a try. “There's always the unknown.”
They were among more than 100 newly elected members of Congress arriving in Washington this week for the start of freshmen orientation — the crush of new Democrats, many bringing a new sense of urgency after the party's sweep of the midterm elections, and the slim new class of freshmen Republicans.
“People were just looking for somebody who’s going to listen to them,” said Womack, who said she won by simply showing up and talking with voters.
“I’m a single mom and so I know what it’s like to have to live on a budget and figure out how am I going to feed my family,” she said. “And that’s what people want to fight for them in Washington right now.”
New-member orientation creates an unusual mash-up on Capitol Hill, as the newcomers are arriving and the exiting lawmakers begin to clear out, all in preparation for the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 3, when lawmakers are sworn in and the new Congress begins.
This week’s orientation includes training sessions and ritzy receptions for the newcomers, and for the defeated or those retiring it's the start of figuring out what’s next. Briefing rooms are filled with information about office setup, payroll and benefits, and there's a room to take official portraits.
It’s also the time for the House and Senate to hold internal party elections for their new leaders, ahead of a public vote in January for the speaker of the House.
“I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can and being the best representative I can be for my district," said Poindexter as he arrived at the nearby Navy Yard hotel where lawmakers converged.
The Capitol was a changed place as the members-elect started meeting up with their colleagues and getting to know their way around the place.
Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan was swarmed by young people in the Capitol basement, taking pictures with the progressive star who is also the first Muslim in the Senate.
Texas Sen.-elect James Talarico paid a visit to the outgoing Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his own primary for reelection. President Donald Trump backed Cornyn's rival, Ken Paxton, who was defeated.
“I’m so grateful for his advice and his guidance as I try to fill his big shoes,” Talarico said of Cornyn as he walked through the Senate between orientation events. He said he wants to meet with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas as well.
And Sen.-elect Juliana Stratton of Illinois snapped a photo with new Democratic senators-elect including Talarico, El-Sayed, Annie Andrews, Roy Cooper, Peggy Flanagan, Josh Turek and others.
“First Freshmen Senator selfie! Couldn’t ask for a better team,” she posted as the caption.
Among them was former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who defeated Republican Sen. Jon Husted, a Trump-backed favorite, for a comeback. Brown was in the Senate for 18 years before he lost two years ago to GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno, but he still joined his freshmen colleagues for their orientation.
“I’ve actually learned some things,” said Brown, who was celebrating his 74th birthday on Monday. “I’ve gotten to know my colleagues.”
One of the first decisions the incoming lawmakers will make happens even before they’re sworn into office, as they huddle with their parties in private meetings to choose House and Senate leadership.
Congressional offices are being bombarded with phone calls and social media messages pushing Democrats to dump their current choices — House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer — in favor of a fresh start.
Jeffries scoffed when questioned Monday if he had support— the typically low-key leader flashing confidence he would have the votes. He is on track to make history as the nation's first Black American to become speaker of the House.
Progressive lawmakers, in particular, are agitating for change reflective of voters' sweeping turnout for Democrats, especially in the Senate. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan announced they would not support Schumer.
Sen.-elect Chris Pappas, D-N.H. — who was darting back and forth between his day job as an outgoing member of the House and his new one as an incoming senator — said their class is “a new generation of leadership that wants to do things differently and shake up Washington.”
He said he wants to meet with Schumer and will later decide who he will support, if anyone challenges him.
Republicans chose their new leaders after House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to step aside following the party's election defeat. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordon won the race against the No. 2 Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana to become the minority leader, continuing a rivalry stretching to 2023, before Johnson rose to power.
Senate Republicans tapped Sen. John Thune of South Dakota to stay on as leader, despite those agitating for a change.
As the week began, the House Chaplain Margaret Kibben opened Monday's session with a prayer, “some of us enjoying victories and others enduring disheartening defeats.”
On the Democratic side, the new Congress will see many milestones — Flanagan will be the first Native American female U.S. senator, Pappas the first gay male senator, and more.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, the House Democrats' campaign chief, called the party's candidates “all very unique.”
"We had firefighters, ministers, mayors, veterans, teachers, farmers, prosecutors, union leaders, law enforcement, doctors, journalists and even a Grammy award-winning musician," she said earlier.
“They understand that their job title is representative, not rubber stamp.”
Johnson, the outgoing speaker, hosted a reception in the Capitol's stately Statuary Hall for the House Republicans, whose shrinking numbers left the party lopsided, their minority made up of mostly white men.
Rep.-elect Kristina Knickerbocker, D-Ohio, talks with reporters in the Capitol basement during the first day of new member orientation, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Rep.-elect Joe Strada, R-Fla., left, walks through the Capitol basement during the first day of new member orientation, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Sen.-elect Juliana Stratton, D-Ill., walks to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's, D-N.Y., office at the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Sen.-elect Annie Andrews, D-S.C., walks to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's, D-N.Y., office at the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan, D-Minn., walks to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's, D-N.Y., office at the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Sen.-elect Troy Jackson, D-Maine, walks to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's, D-N.Y., office at the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Sen.-elect Josh Turek, D-Iowa, goes to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's, D-N.Y., office at the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Sen.-elect Chris Pappas, D-N.H., walks through the Ohio Clock Corridor at the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Rep.-elect Jon Bonck, R-Texas, walks through the Capitol basement during the first day of new member orientation, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Rep.-elect Amanda McKinney, R-Wash., center, walks through the Capitol basement during the first day of new member orientation, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Rep.-elect Rebecca Bennett, D-N.J., talks with reporters in the Capitol basement during the first day of new member orientation, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Rep.-elect Jon Bonck, R-Texas, arrives at the AC Hotel during new member orientation in Washington, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Rep.-elect LaKesha Womack, D-N.C., arrives for first day of new member orientation at the Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich., center, is flanked by Sen.-elect Andy Barr, R-Ky., left, and Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton, D-Kan., as newly-elected senators arrive for orientation following the sweeping victory by Democrats in the midterm elections, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sens.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich., center, Roy Cooper, D-N.C., third from right, and Annie Andrews, D-S.C., second from right, walk through the Ohio Clock Corridor at the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
