One in Three Americans Back Second Execution Attempt Against Christa Pike After Failed First Try, Poll Finds

One in three Americans believe the government should make a second attempt to execute a convicted criminal if the first attempt fails, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after a botched lethal injection in Tennessee.

 

The four-day poll, completed on Monday, found that 39% of respondents believed the prisoner should instead be allowed to serve life in prison following a failed execution, while 26% were unsure which approach was preferable.

 

The nationwide survey revealed limited public support for attempting to execute inmates who survive an initial attempt. The issue has come into focus in Tennessee after Christa Pike, 50, survived two lethal injection attempts last month in Nashville.

 

The convicted murderer was taken to hospital unconscious after the attempted execution, in a critical condition and with severe injuries to her arms, after two syringes containing the barbiturate pentobarbital failed to kill her. The incident marked Tennessee’s second botched lethal injection this year. She did not regain consciousness for five days.

 

Most countries worldwide, along with 23 US states, have abolished capital punishment. States that retain the death penalty have struggled in recent years to obtain the drugs used in lethal injections, prompting some to consider alternative methods, including firing squads.

 

A narrow majority of Americans — 55% — continue to support capital punishment for people convicted of the most serious crimes. This represents a decline from the 63% who backed the policy in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in 2017. In the latest survey, 31% of respondents opposed the death penalty, while 13% either did not know or declined to answer.

 

The issue has gained fresh significance as courts consider whether states can schedule a second execution after an initial attempt fails.

 

The US Supreme Court recently allowed a state to proceed with scheduling a second execution date following an unsuccessful attempt. Kenneth Smith, who was convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, survived an execution attempt in Alabama in 2022 after prison officials failed to establish intravenous access. Alabama subsequently executed him in 2024 using nitrogen gas, a method intended to cause death by suffocation.

 

Opposition To Livestreaming Executions

 

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recently raised the possibility of the first-ever livestream of a US execution, referring to the planned execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, a former US Army major who killed 13 people at the military base at Fort Hood, Texas.

 

Following widespread criticism, including from Republican lawmakers, President Donald Trump cancelled plans to livestream the execution. Officials nevertheless intend to carry it out on December 3.

 

The poll found that 46% of Americans considered execution by firing squad appropriate for Hasan. The figure included 29% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans.

 

However, 71% of respondents said broadcasting executions to the public on television or the internet was inappropriate. Majorities of both Democrats and Republicans shared that view.

 

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online across the United States, collecting responses from 1,679 adults. The survey had a margin of error of two percentage points.