MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee Governor Bill Lee issued a temporary reprieve for death row inmate Pervis Payne Friday.
In a statement, Lee said the reprieve until April 9, 2021 is due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing disruptions. Payne’s execution had been set for December 3.
“I am granting Pervis Payne a temporary reprieve from execution until April 9, 2021, due to the challenges and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the full statement.
Payne is on death row for the murders of Charisse Christopher and her daughter Lacie, who were killed more than 30 years ago in Millington.
Kelley Henry, Mr. Payne’s attorney, made the following statement:
“Governor Lee was right to delay Pervis Payne’s execution due to the Covid-19 crisis. Bringing witnesses into the prison is unsafe for them, the staff, and the prisoners. This additional time will give the Tennessee Legislature the opportunity to pass bi-partisan legislation to allow Mr. Payne’s and others’ claims of intellectual disability to be heard in court.
“The U.S. Supreme Court and the Tennessee Supreme Court has held that the execution of people with intellectual disability is unconstitutional. Currently, there is no process for people with intellectual disability in Mr. Payne’s procedural posture to have their claims heard in court. We are grateful to Rep. G.A. Hardaway and the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators for filing bi-partisan legislation to create such a procedure.”
“This additional time will also allow us to investigate Mr. Payne’s strong innocence claim, together with the Innocence Project. We are grateful to the 150 faith, legal, legislative, and community groups in Memphis and across the state that support clemency for Mr. Payne. Together with Mr. Payne’s family, we will continue the fight to prove Mr. Payne’s innocence.”
This week, the Tennessee Black Caucus of Legislators announced it is sponsoring a bill that gives people with an intellectual disability, who have been sentenced to death, a chance to live. Supporters hoped the prefiling of House Bill 0001 would stop the execution of Pervis Payne. The bill won’t be considered until at least January.
In response to the Black Caucus’ bill, Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich sent the following statement to Local 24 News:
“There is no glitch in the law. The current law does provide the opportunity to address intellectual disability, but Mr. Payne chose not to raise the issue within the time the law provides the claim must be raised. As a Federal Judge observed in 2018: ‘Payne's failure to pursue such a claim is perhaps unsurprising because his I.Q. scores over several decades did not appear to demonstrate that he met the first factor for intellectual disability under Tennessee's statute. On a test taken in 1987, Payne scored an I.Q. of 78, he scored 78 again on a 1996 test, and the result of his 2010 test was 74.’ It is time that Mr. Payne be held accountable for his brutal attack on a mother and her two young children.”