Key moments at Pike’s execution will come under the microscopepublished at 16:36 BST
16:36 BST
Stephanie Hegarty
BBC News
As we mentioned earlier, the hearing today is about preserving all documents and evidence from the execution attempt.
And there are questions being raised about those key moments after the lethal chemical was injected into Pike.
For instance, the curtain was closed to the execution chamber more than once and Pike’s lawyers and media witnesses have said they were not kept informed as to what was happening.
Last year, a group of news organisations sued the warden of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville – where Pike’s execution took place – and the state corrections commissioner, arguing that the press has a right to witness executions in their entirety.
Under the state’s protocol, media witnesses could see only about 10 to 15 minutes of an execution. The curtains opened after the prisoner was strapped down and the IV lines were in place, and closed before death was pronounced.
In January, a Nashville judge ordered that the curtains stay open until the pronouncement of death.
But in April the Tennessee Supreme Court put that order on hold while the state appeals, so the older, more limited rules still applied at Pike’s execution.
We could see this issue raised again today.