Christa Pike could escape execution if brain damage from botched lethal injection leaves her mentally impaired, expert warns

Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital during her botched execution on 30 September and was rushed to hospital after her heart kept beating. A leading capital punishment expert now says Pike could be permanently spared if the brain damage leaves her unable to understand why she is being punished. Courts have ruled the state cannot execute prisoners with intellectual disabilities or those unable to connect their punishment to their crime.