Tennessee warns executions could grind to a halt if Christa Pike’s lawyers see a single drug label: court docs

Tennessee officials are asking a judge to keep the supplier of the drug used in executions secret, saying disclosure could lead the vendor to stop supplying the state. They warn that losing access to pentobarbital could halt executions, as finding another willing supplier may be difficult.

The request concerns evidence from Christa Pike’s failed execution attempt, which a court ordered the state to preserve. Pike, convicted of murdering classmate Colleen Slemmer, survived after two doses of pentobarbital were administered on 30 September; the state says labels on the drug vials could identify the supplier. The judge has not ruled on whether Pike’s lawyers and experts can inspect those labels.