LIVESTREAM: Wednesday September 8, 2021. 1:00 PM ET:
Pervis Payne family and legal team: Legal briefing and update on the case.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGkbDfwFxjfNklvLqnRmGBVdmXt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND TO THE PERVIS PAYNE CASE: "In 1987, Pervis Payne was accused of killing a 28-year-old Tennessee mother and her 2-year-old daughter. He has been on death row for 33 years. Payne has maintained his innocence since his arrest. Payne discovered the bodies, but, fearing for his own life, fled the scene upon arrival of police. A new investigation into the case revealed numerous errors in the investigation: a staged crime scene, hidden evidence, destruction of evidence, information that Payne is intellectually disabled, prosecutorial misconduct and a racially motivated prosecution. The trial prosecutor, who has a history of professional misconduct, played on age-old racist tropes: painting Payne as a super-predator who was hopped up on cocaine and looking to have sex with a white woman. The prosecutor went so far as to emphasize the victim’s white skin and Mr. Payne’s dark hand. Worse, the prosecution ignored the obvious suspect, the victim’s violent ex-husband who had beaten her mercilessly and had a motive. The ex-husband came from a family with a long history of violence – one of his brothers spent time on Florida’s death row. For the first time in nearly a decade, Payne made a public appearance recently before a court in Memphis which will decide whether Mr. Payne should be removed from death row due to his intellectual disability.
Dr. Charles Steele, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
The entire op-edThe entire column can be read at:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE SEPTEMBER 8 RALLY: (INNOCENCE PROJECT):
GIST: "Innocence Project client Pervis Payne, who lives with an intellectual disability, has been on death row for 33 years despite maintaining his innocence. To date, more than 750,000 people have signed a petition in support of Mr. Payne’s fight for justice, but he is still at risk of execution.
On Sept. 8, supporters from all over the country will gather for one hour to mark the one-year anniversary of the weekly rallies in Memphis to #FreePervisPayne. “We are gathering to bear witness and to show our leaders that we are not going away until Pervis is free,” said Dr. Andre Johnson, organizer of the weekly Memphis rallies.
In the last year, a groundswell of support for Mr. Payne has developed and his case inspired the passing of a new law in Tennessee that requires the state to recognize the unconstitutionality of executing people with intellectual disabilities. His case has received support from a broad and diverse coalition including former solicitor general and judge, Ken Starr, Martin Luther King III, Bryan Stevenson, Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Dr. Charles Steele, and the grandson of Ida B. Wells, Dan Duster.
In May, his legal team filed a petition arguing that it would be illegal to execute Mr. Payne because he has an intellectual disability. Judge Paula Skahan will hear his claim on Dec. 13, including listening to attorneys’ arguments and expert assessments of Mr. Payne’s intellectual disability.
But Tennessee law permits the state Supreme Court to set an execution date at any time. At a hearing in June, Judge Skahan warned the lawyers that she does not have the authority to stay an execution should a date be set.
“While we hope that the Court will not set an execution date while our petition is pending, we have no guarantee. Every day, Pervis and his family have to live with the dread that a new date could be set at any time,” said Kelley Henry, Mr. Payne’s attorney.
“We are working around the clock to ensure that this hearing moves forward. At the same time, we continue to urge Governor Lee to grant clemency so that Pervis can come home to his family.”
