Tennessee death row inmate Gary Wayne Sutton has been granted a one-year reprieve two months before he was set to be executed as state officials search for answers to Christa Pike’s disastrous, failed lethal injections.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee announced earlier this month that executions will be paused for the rest of the year as a third-party review of Pike’s botched execution is carried out.
Sutton’s lawyers welcomed the reprieve, saying it will give them more time to fight for his case. Sutton, who maintains his innocence, has been on death row for decades after being convicted of the 1992 murders of Tommy Griffin and his sister Connie Branum.
“We are grateful to Gov. Lee for granting this reprieve to Gary while the State continues to investigate its execution protocols.
“The State has serious work to do as it tries to understand how its supposedly failsafe and humane execution procedures have failed twice in less than six months, catastrophically and torturously,” his lawyers said in a statement shared by local news WSMV last week.
Pike survived two injections of pentobarbital, a drug that slows brain activity and can be lethal in high doses, on September 30. She woke up in the hospital, confused and angry, according to her lawyers.
“Our understanding was the first thing she said [when she woke up] was, ‘Where am I and who are you?’” one of Pike’s lawyers, Randy Spivey, told reporters.
Pike was sentenced to death decades ago after the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer.
She has been discharged from the hospital and moved back to prison, her lawyers said Saturday.
A day after Pike’s botched execution, Gov. Lee announced a probe into the matter.
“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State's most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,” Lee said in a statement on October 1.
“I have ordered a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.
“Therefore, the remaining scheduled execution will not be carried out this year,” Lee added.
Sutton’s new execution date is October 7, 2027, according to reports.
In the meantime, Sutton’s lawyers are working to permanently vacate his death sentence with evidence of an intellectual disability that they say he has.
“While Gary’s stay of execution is temporary for now, it does give us more time as we continue our work to clear his name and present evidence of his intellectual disability to a court. For more than three decades, Gary has maintained his innocence, an assertion that’s supported by the family and friends who know him best.
“Beyond that, Gary’s well-documented intellectual disability renders him ineligible for the death penalty by both state and federal law. We are confident the courts will agree with us and will permanently vacate Gary’s death sentence,” his lawyers said.