Today, at the request of Governor Bill Lee, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office retained former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct an independent review of the Tennessee Department of Correction’s actions in carrying out the court-ordered sentence of Christa Gail Pike.

The independent review will seek to determine whether the protocol was followed and consider whether additional recommendations are necessary to ensure the State’s protocol continues to be lawful and effective. The Governor has called off the remaining scheduled execution this year pending completion of the review.

The State previously retained Stanton in 2022 to conduct an independent review of Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol. His work prompted the State and Attorney General’s Office to substantially rewrite the protocol before executions resumed.