BACKGROUND: "(Pervis) Payne is an intellectually disabled Black man who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1987 murder of a white woman named Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter Lacie Jo. He has always maintained his innocence, saying he came upon the bloody crime scene while checking to see if his girlfriend — who lived across the hall — was at her apartment. Overwhelmed by the horror before him, Payne testified in court that he fumbled around trying to help before he ran off, afraid that the police would instantly believe he was the murderer. They did. But more than 30 years later, Payne’s attorney Kelley Henry, who also represented Alley, discovered previously undisclosed evidence — a bloodied comforter, sheets and pillow — that had never been tested. In a Dec. 30 court filing, Henry wrote that the case against Payne had been “concocted out of whole cloth” and based on “outdated racial stereotyping.” At the very least, DNA evidence that was apparently hidden from the defense does nothing to make one doubt her characterization of the case. Now, the Innocence Project has also taken up Payne’s case."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Payne was convicted in the 1987 murders of Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie Jo, in Millington. Governor Bill Lee delayed Payne's execution in 2020 due to the pandemic. The next hearing scheduled for Payne's case is on Dec. 13th. A state expert is scheduled that day to present an evaluation on whether Payne has an intellectual disability, which would mean he should legally be taken off death row."
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STORY: "Attorneys for death row in mate Pervis Payne want Shelby County District Attorney's Office removed," by Reporter Kim Cheney, published by abc news on October 8, 2021.
SUB-HEADING: "Lawyers for Payne submitted a motion for the Office to be disqualified due to a possible conflict of interest."
GIST: "Attorneys for death row inmate Pervis Payne want a judge to remove the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office from the case.
Lawyers for Payne submitted the motion asking for the D.A.’s office to be disqualified due to a possible conflict of interest.
According to the motion, Assistant Shelby County District Attorney Stephen Jones was a Capital Case Staff Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee for two years – from 1996 to 1998. The two years before that, Jones was a law clerk for Judge Joe. B Jones in the court of Criminal Appeals.
The motion said as a Capital Case Staff Attorney, Stephen Jones provided legal guidance to judges on death row cases.
At issue, Payne’s attorneys want it investigated whether Jones was working as a Capital Case Staff Attorney when at least one post-conviction relief motion was dismissed in Payne’s case in 1996.
The motion said an email sent by Jones on September 30, 2021, confirmed another Assistant Shelby County District Attorney was not handling any of the Payne matters because of her work as a former Capital Case Staff Attorney. Lawyers said the email also said Jones was not handling any cases on which he had worked as a Capital Case Staff Attorney.
Payne was convicted in the 1987 murders of Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie Jo, in Millington.
Governor Bill Lee delayed Payne's execution in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The next hearing scheduled for Payne's case is on Dec. 13th. A state expert is scheduled that day to present an evaluation on whether Payne has an intellectual disability, which would mean he should legally be taken off death row."
The entire story can be read at:
