Tennessee Commissioner Resigns After Failed Execution of Christa Pike
New York Times · LC · trust 55/100
Frank Strada, who oversaw the process that left Christa Pike unconscious and hospitalized, quit as an independent review began.
Listen · 3:13 min Share full article Frank Strada, the embattled Tennessee prison chief, is stepping down following the failed execution of Christa Pike. Credit... Mark Humphrey/Associated Press By Emily Cochrane
Mr. Strada is expected to leave later this month. His departure will come after he oversaw Tennessee’s second failed attempt at lethal injection this year and amid bipartisan calls for his resignation. All remaining executions have been paused.
In a statement released by the governor’s office, Mr. Strada maintained that his agency had “carried out its responsibilities in accordance with the established protocol.” As of Thursday evening, Ms. Pike was unconscious and on a ventilator, with injuries on both her arms as a result of the failed execution on Wednesday, her lawyers said in court filings.
Mr. Strada framed his resignation as being “in the best interest of Tennesseans” while an independent review into Ms. Pike’s execution attempt proceeds. He said he supported the investigation and would cooperate.
The resignation was “justified,” Ms. Pike’s lawyers said. “But it does nothing to help Christa now.”
“What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person,” they said in a joint statement. “We hope the governor’s call for a full, independent review will expose the profound problems within Tennessee’s entire death penalty system.”
Several Tennessee Republicans, including Senator Marsha Blackburn, the party’s candidate for governor, had said that Mr. Strada should step down or be replaced when Mr. Lee’s term-limited tenure ends in the coming months. Mr. Lee had previously sidestepped a question about Mr. Strada’s tenure after the execution, echoing Mr. Strada’s defense of how the agency handled the lethal injection protocol.
“So far as we know, the Department of Correction followed exactly the protocol that was outlined and vetted and approved by the attorney general’s office,” Mr. Lee said on Thursday.
Two days later, however, he announced Mr. Strada had resigned.
“I appreciate his willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment,” Mr. Lee said in a statement on Saturday. “I have accepted his decision to step down and am grateful for his commitment to ensuring a smooth leadership transition.”
Tennessee lawyers and community leaders have pleaded for Mr. Lee to overhaul the state’s execution process, pointing to three problem-plagued executions Mr. Strada oversaw when he was a top prison official in Arizona. The bungled attempt on Wednesday, they said, was a grim confirmation of Ms. Pike’s fears of a painful process, as well as years of warnings.
“Hopefully, this is the beginning of accountability and an end to secrecy that enables these debacles,” said Laura Porter, the executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
This a developing story. Check back for updates.
Emily Cochrane is a national reporter for The Times covering the American South, based in Nashville.
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