‘Either blood or blown’: graphic account of botched US execution

AI Summary

A court filing by lawyer Randy Spivey describes repeated failed attempts to establish IV lines during the attempted execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. The execution team reportedly used about 10 needles and warned that some of her veins may have ruptured before the lethal drug was administered.

Tennessee execution team members failed multiple times to establish working IV lines in Christa Pike’s arms before her attempted execution and warned that some of her veins may have ruptured, or “blown”, before she was injected with the lethal drug, her lawyer wrote in a court document filed Thursday. The IV team went through about 10 needles and tried several IV sites on both arms, lawyer Randy Spivey wrote in the document, which provides the most detailed account of the execution attempt so...