Who is christa gail pike

Litigation ensued, after which the Tennessee Supreme Court ultimately determined that the motion to vacate the dismissal order should be granted and remanded the matter to the lower court to reinstate the Petitioner s postconviction petition. Pike v. State, S. Evidentiary hearings were conducted in January , July , and August On December 10, , the postconviction court entered an order denying the Petitioner post-conviction relief.

On appeal to this court, the Petitioner presents a number of claims that can be characterized in the following categories: 1 the post-conviction court should have recused itself; 2 the Petitioner s trial and appellate counsel were ineffective; 3 the Petitioner is ineligible for the death penalty; and 4 the death penalty is unconstitutional.

Following a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. Christa Gail Pike v. State of Tennessee Annotate this Case. Death Row Facts.

Women on Death Row. She beat the worker and then killed her. Pike was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. On March 30, , Pike entered the Debra K. On August 24, , Pike strangled inmate Patricia Jones with a shoe string nearly choking her to death. She was convicted of attempted first degree murder on August 12, But Pike's defense team says it's still too soon.

They've lodged several arguments, including one centered on her mental illness and youth at the time of the crime. A jury condemned Pike in March Nine years later, the U. Supreme Court abolished the juvenile death penalty in the landmark case Roper v. The court held that executing people who committed murder before they turned 18 violates the Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment because they "cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders.

The court cited three main differences between juveniles and adults: Juveniles lack maturity and responsibility; they are more vulnerable to negative influences; and their character is not fully formed. The court drew the line at 18, but Pike's attorneys argue its logic should extend beyond that. They point to scientific research that the brain isn't fully developed until after age 20 and that there's no way to differentiate between the brains of young people. The lawyers paint Shipp — not Pike — as the ringleader of the group.

Shipp was violent and controlling, they write, while Pike was suffering from undiagnosed bipolar disorder and brain damage after a childhood filled with sexual and physical abuse. Her mother drank while she was in the womb, and she was twice raped as a child. Courts have shot down similar arguments in Pike's case before. In , defense lawyers argued that "immature, mentally ill, brain-damaged" year-olds should be exempted from the death penalty.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed, reasoning that juries already are allowed to consider a killer's youth and mental health in deciding whether to impose death. Pike's lawyers contend the jury in her case didn't consider those factors because her attorneys at trial failed to present sufficient evidence.