Pervis Payne, a Black man with an intellectual disability, has been on death row in Tennessee for 33 years — but he’s always maintained his innocence. In November 2020, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee granted Pervis a temporary reprieve of his execution. That reprieve ends on April 9, which means the State will be able to set a new execution date for him at any moment.
BACKGROUND: INNOCENCE PROJECT:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Pervis Payne has maintained his innocence for more than 30 years. Yet, despite having no prior criminal record and living with an intellectual disability, he was sentenced to death in Tennessee. Governor Bill Lee granted Mr. Payne a temporary execution reprieve, which set to expire on April 9, 2021. The Innocence Project joined Kelley Henry’s team at the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Nashville and the Milbank firm in filing a legal petition on July 22, 2020 for DNA testing of evidence in Mr. Payne’s case that had never been tested before and could help prove his innocence. And testing of some evidence was completed and submitted to the court in January 2021; however, key pieces of evidence mysteriously went missing before testing could be done. Mr. Payne has always maintained his innocence and said that he was waiting for his girlfriend to return to her apartment in Millington, Tennessee, one afternoon in June 1987, when he discovered that her neighbor, Charisse Christopher, and her children had been brutally attacked. Mr. Payne, who lives with an intellectual disability, was shocked by the bloody scene. Despite his panic, he tried to help, but as soon as he saw the police arriving, he had a sinking feeling that he would be mistaken for the attacker. His fear soon became reality. Mr. Payne was arrested later that day, and the following February was convicted of murder and sentenced to death . More than three decades later, he is still on death row."
| |||||||||
|
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwLtGthWjdDHjCNNLhnwXRsCgzr
