Johnson, president-elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, could see the state attempting an execution by a different method.
This would require “additional legal hoops”, including approval from the governor’s office and potentially the state legislature.
Since Pike’s survival, political leaders in Tennessee have called for moving her death sentence forward through other means.
Senator Marsha Blackburn, the Republican candidate for governor in next month’s election, said: “Bring back the electric chair.”
Congressman Tim Burchett, posted on social media that he’s already filed a bill to “bring back hanging”.
Tennessee could be allowed to use the electric chair because Pike committed the murder in 1995 before the state changed its execution laws.
She would need to waive her right to lethal injection in writing, which means it would have to be her decision, Vanderbilt University law professor Chris Slobogin said.
Given that Pike’s exact medical state is unknown, Slobogin said there was a scenario in which the state could be blocked from attempting to execute her again, regardless of method.
It was also considered cruel and unusual punishment to execute someone who is mentally incapable of understanding why it is happening, he explained.
Historically this has applied to prisoners with dementia or psychosis, but experts have said there is a chance that Pike has suffered brain damage.
There is a precedent of states finding a different method to execute a death-row inmate.
In 2024, Alabama executed a convicted murderer using a different method to the one that was originally planned. Kenneth Eugene Smith was put to death using nitrogen gas – having failed with its initial plan of lethal injection.
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