Lethal injection has often been portrayed by United States authorities as a humane form of execution, however US legal academics say the botched execution of Christa Pike has exposed it as anything but.
The now 50-year-old convicted murderer regained consciousness in a Nashville Hospital on Wednesday, a week after surviving her planned lethal injection at Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.
The exact failure point in Pike's execution remains unclear but her legal team has alleged that up to seven syringes were used and that one was "bent in a 90-degree angle".
They said she sustained significant injuries including blistering to her arms, symptoms medical advisors said matched what could be expected if the drugs were injected in tissue under her skin, rather than into her veins.
The state of Tennessee has not ruled whether there will be a second attempt to execute her, 30 years after she was sentenced for the torture and murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer.
Nicole Hegarty reports.
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