Christa Pike’s lawyers had warned execution would be ‘difficult and perhaps cruel’ due to her veins

Ex-lawyer for woman Tennessee attempted to execute says defense filings said she was at risk for exactly what happened'

A former lawyer for Christa Pike says he was not surprised that Tennessee botched its attempt to execute her because attorneys had warned that problems accessing her veins could make the procedure dangerous and potentially cruel.

James Crowson, who represented Pike during part of her post-conviction appeals, said he had followed the case from afar before the failed execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on 30 September.