Tea Party Nation founder and former prosecutor Judson Phillips said the legal fallout from Christa Pike’s failed execution could keep the convicted murderer in court for years, as her attorneys pursue challenges following the botched lethal injection.
Phillips discussed Pike’s case and the potential legal arguments her attorneys could raise after Tennessee attempted to execute her on September 30 during Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Phillips, who previously served as an assistant district attorney in Shelby County and Williamson County, said he prosecuted several murder cases during his career.
“The stakes are higher,” Phillips said of the pressure prosecutors face in murder cases. “If you have a murder case, almost always you’re going to have a victim’s family that wants justice, and speaking from the prosecution side, you don’t want to let these people down.”
Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer and was scheduled to be executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution last week. Officials administered two doses of pentobarbital, but Pike remained alive and was ultimately transported to a hospital.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee subsequently halted the state’s remaining 2026 executions and ordered an independent review of the state’s capital punishment system.
On Wednesday, a Davidson County Chancery Court judge ordered Tennessee prison officials to preserve evidence connected to the failed execution, including log books, medical waste, and communications involving officials associated with the execution. The judge also ordered prison officials to provide Pike’s attorneys with “liberal access” to their client.
Phillips predicted Pike’s attorneys will pursue multiple legal avenues following the failed execution.
“There’s going to be a big public push to get Bill Lee to commute her sentence,” Phillips said.
He said attorneys could argue that another execution attempt would constitute cruel and unusual punishment and could also raise questions about Pike’s mental competency.
“And then, they will raise the issue of mental incompetence,” Phillips said. “She’s now brain damaged because of this execution. She cannot appreciate what is happening to her, therefore it is unconstitutional.”
Phillips said such arguments could result in additional years of litigation.
“It’s going to get tied up in court for years,” he said.
With regard to the lengthy appeals process faced by death-row inmates, Phillips said an execution could take roughly 15 years even under a best-case scenario.
“An absolute best case scenario if the appeals process works the way it goes, from date of offense, and assuming a fairly immediate arrest, to execution at the earliest possible time, probably 15 years,” Phillips said.
“This is why you’re seeing all these people who are lingering on death row…because you have these endless appeals,” he added.
Live October 07 https://t.co/slzZu9GwXF
— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) October 7, 2026
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
