Execution staff warned veins 'might be blowing' before Christa Pike's failed execution

Tennessee execution staff repeatedly failed to establish IV lines and warned Christa Pike's veins might have 'blown' before injecting pentobarbital, her attorney said in court documents.

• Attorney Randy Spivey wrote that the execution team used about 10 needles and tried several IV sites on both arms before the Sept. 30 attempt.
• Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital, spent days on a ventilator in hospital, and returned to prison after 10 days.
• Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suspended all executions in the state pending a review.
• Lawyers for another death row prisoner, Tony Carruthers, filed a motion challenging the lethal injection protocol after his own failed execution in May.