BACKGROUND: "One day after Governor Bill Lee signed a bill curing a defect in Tennessee law that had prevented death-row prisoners from challenging their death sentences on the basis of intellectual disability, Pervis Payne’s (pictured) lawyers asked a Memphis trial court to vacate his death sentence. On May 12, 2021, federal defenders representing Payne filed a Petition to Determine Ineligibility to be Executed in the Shelby County Criminal Court seeking that the court “declare that Mr. Payne is ineligible to be executed because he is intellectually disabled.” Prior to the bill’s May 11 signing, Tennessee lacked a mechanism for prisoners to litigate their ineligibility for the death penalty if their death sentences had already been upheld on appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia declaring the death penalty unconstitutional for individuals with intellectual disability Pervis Payne was one of a dozen Tennessee death-row prisoners who had been denied access to judicial review of their intellectual disability and faced possible execution despite the unconstitutionality of their death sentences. “Pervis Payne is indisputably intellectually disabled,” his petition states. “Mr. Payne meets all three Atkinsrequirements, as well as those of the Tennessee statute. He has significantly subaverage intellectual functioning, significant adaptive deficits in each domain, and his disability manifested prior to age 18.” The petition supports Payne’s claim with IQ scores from standardized tests of intellectual functioning that place Payne within the intellectually disabled range; findings from two mental health experts who examined Payne and concluded he is intellectually disabled; and declarations from family members, friends, teachers, and employers describing Payne’s impairments in numerous aspects of day-to-day functioning and attesting to the fact that these impairments were already present early in his childhood...............................................Payne has consistently maintained his innocence in the murder of Charisse Christopher and her two-year-old daughter. He was convicted in a racially charged trial in which Shelby County prosecutors asserted, without evidence, that he was a young Black man on drugs who stabbed Christopher to death after she spurned his sexual advances. DNA testing of evidence that had been withheld from the defense found the presence of an unidentified male’s DNA on the handle of the murder weapon. Despite a bloody crime in which the victims collectively were stabbed more than 80 times, Payne’s DNA was not present on the handle of the weapon."
Death Penalty Information Center: May 13, 2021.
------------------------------------------------------------
THE RALLY: : Memphis, Tennessee) Dr. Charles Steele, President and CEO, of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (“SCLC”) will hold a press conference at 11:00 a.m. on July 15, 2021 at the National Civil Rights Museum to announce SCLC will join the Campaign to Free Pervis Payne. Dr. Steele’s announcement occurs during the historic week honoring the legacy of Ida B. Wells. In the tradition of Ida B. Wells and Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Steele is using his voice and vast network of influence to shine a light on the injustice in Mr. Payne’s case where a Black man with intellectual disability was wrongfully convicted for the murder of a white woman and her child."..."Later on Thursday, at 4:00 p.m., the community will gather for a rally and fundraiser in support of the Campaign to #FreePervisPayne."
-----------------------------------------------------------
THE HEARING: "On Friday, at 9:00 a.m., the Shelby County Criminal Court will hold a hearing in the case where Mr. Payne plans to present evidence of his intellectual disability on December 13, 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Tennessee Supreme Court bar the execution of people with intellectual disability. The Court has ordered that Mr. Payne be evaluated by the State’s medical expert, and he does not object to that evaluation, but that is all the State is entitled to. The Department of Correction has declined to provide the State with access to confidential records and interviews with unspecified corrections officers in accordance with state and federal law and corrections policy. Faith leaders will gather for a prayer vigil at 8:30 a.m. outside the courthouse at the corner of Washington and BB King before the hearing.
-------------------------------------------------------------
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
