In 2019, when the state sought an execution date for Pervis Payne, his attorneys argued that he should not be put to death for two reasons in particular.
The first was that for more than 30 years, Payne has maintained that he is innocent of the crime for which he was sentenced to death. A Black man, Payne was convicted for the 1987 murder of a white woman named Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter Lacie Jo. Payne has always said he was a bystander who came upon the scene of the murder while checking to see if his girlfriend was at her apartment across the hall. (Testing earlier this year found "male DNA from an unknown third party'" on the murder weapon and other key evidence.)
But Payne's attorneys also argued that his execution would be unconstitutional because he is "indisputably intellectually disabled." They argued that Payne, who has a functional IQ of 68.4, was uniquely vulnerable to wrongful conviction and that his execution would violate U.S. Supreme Court rulings that prohibited the execution of intellectually disable people. Studies have found that intellectually disabled defendants of color are disproportionately vulnerable to death sentences.
The problem in Payne's case was that there was not a procedure through which he could have his claim of intellectual disability in court. The Tennessee Supreme Court acknowledged this predicament and called on the state legislature to fix it.
On Monday night, the state House and Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that would do that. The Republican-sponsored bill is a scaled-back version of legislation introduced by the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators. The approved version would only apply to a small number of death row prisoners who have never had their intellectual disability claim adjudicated. It passed the House with only four votes against it (from Republicans Johnny Garrett, Bruce Griffey, Rusty Grills and William Lamberth) and the Senate with just one opposing vote (from Republican Brian Kelsey).
“This bill applies to a small number of people but does not confer any new rights that did not already exist under Supreme Court precedent," Supervisory Assistant Federal Public Defender Kelly Henry, who represents Payne, said in a statement following the bill's passage. "By eliminating a procedural technicality and modernizing the definition of intellectual disability to conform to current medical standards, the bill will reduce needless litigation, greatly serving the public interest by saving taxpayer money, conserving judicial resources, and speeding up the appellate process in capital cases.
“Importantly, the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes that people with intellectual disability are at a ‘special risk for wrongful execution,'" Henry continues. "Empirical studies verify this truth. This bill will help to ensure that the State of Tennessee does not wrongfully execute an innocent person."
Payne was set to be executed on Dec. 3, 2020 until Gov. Bill Lee granted him a reprieve due to COVID-19. That reprieve expired earlier this month. The Tennessee Supreme Court has not yet set a new execution date.
