A Tennessee judge has ordered the state to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution of Christa Pike.
The ruling followed an emergency hearing where Pike's attorneys shared new details about her condition.
Her attorneys told the judge that Pike, who remains hospitalized, is only able to speak "limitedly" after regaining consciousness a day ago.
The judge approved a request ordering the state to preserve all evidence from Sept. 30, when two attempts to execute Pike by lethal injection failed. That includes drugs, syringes, tubing, medical supplies and anything else that was in the execution room.
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The judge did not immediately rule on a request to make it easier for Pike to communicate with her attorneys from the hospital or to have her handcuffs removed, as her attorneys say doctors have requested.
Pike is believed to be the only person in the U.S. to survive an execution attempt. Her attorneys had warned that complications were possible because of Pike's small veins and history of difficulty with blood draws.
An attorney representing the Tennessee Department of Correction told the judge there are currently no plans to attempt to execute Pike again.
Pike's attorneys argue that another attempt to execute her would constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Constitution. They are asking for her sentence to be reduced to life in prison for the 1995 murder of a classmate
