There was a miracle my last Christmas on death row

 

I was sitting there at the new jail. It snowed that Christmas, 1992. Mom passed away the next month. My mother always told me to watch for signs from God. She said you’ll see them in the smallest things. I was sitting there and it was coming down. The snow was going sideways. They had these long 6-inch wide windows in the new jail that you could roll open and shut. This bird curled up to the heat coming through the window. He stayed there all night. I sat there and talked to him. I got emotional, felt God. I made a wish with tears falling down my face and I realized in that moment that I was going to get out. I also understood that I was going to have to endure a large hardship, which was mom’s passing, but I was out by June. I saw the bird and it made me go to the window. It was one of those black-capped chickadees, with a little black hat. He was a fat little joker. He was siting right there on the other side of an industrial screen but so close we could have kissed each other. He was just huddling from the weather. I guess we soothed each other somehow. I was sad because it was Christmas, I had just talked to mom and dad on the phone, and of course I wouldn’t see her again. She said to me “I’m not gonna be here when you get out. You’re gonna have to do it yourself. Just remember what I’ve told you.” It was like the bird on a Christmas card. Like a natural Christmas card sent to me. Looking back on the metaphor of the whole thing - there I was in the midst of the storm asking God for help. It must have been 20 miles an hour wind. It was cold but I didn’t want to close the window. He stayed with me all night long. I felt better and then my mom passed away and the whole thing unraveled into my exoneration and release. In the morning, I looked at where the bird had sat and I saw his footprints. It was magical.  I have black-capped chickadees in my yard to this day.  For all those still on death row today, we are hoping for the miracle of abolition as soon as possible. Miracles do happen.

Witness to Innocence is the only national organization in the United States composed of and led by exonerated death row survivors and their family members. Our mission is to abolish the death penalty by empowering our members to become effective leaders in the abolition movement. We actively challenge political leaders and the public to grapple with the reality of a fatally flawed criminal justice system that sends innocent people to death row. We also seek ways to support death row survivors and their loved ones as they confront the challenges of life after exoneration. 1501 Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 215-519-4384 info@witnesstoinnocence.org www.witnesstoinnocence.org

 

Judge vacates death sentences of Pervis Payne, who was to be executed for a crime he says he didn't commit

NOVEMBER 27, 2021 

Pervis Payne listens arguments for a motion regarding his intellectual disability claim at Shelby County Criminal Court on Friday, July 16, 2021.

(CNN)A Tennessee judge this week vacated the death sentences of Pervis Payne, who has spent more than three decades on death row for two murders he says he did not commit, due to the inmate's intellectual disability.

As a result, Payne now faces two life sentences, though it remains to be decided whether he will serve them concurrently or consecutively.

"Thirty-four years of trauma and pain and fear just released themselves in that courtroom," Payne's attorney, Supervisory Assistant Federal Public Defender Kelley Henry, said in an interview Friday, describing the moments before Tuesday's hearing when Payne wept as he hugged her.

"It was really just an astounding moment for all of us," she said.

Pervis Payne, center, hugs his attorney, Kelley Henry, before a court hearing on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Payne maintains he is innocent of the 1987 murders of 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, who were fatally stabbed in an attack at their apartment in Millington, a Memphis suburb. Payne received two death sentences after being convicted on two counts of first-degree murder, as well as assault with intent to commit first-degree murder of Christopher's 3-year-old son, who survived the attack.

Payne has spent years attempting to establish his claim of intellectual disability as a reason he should not be executed, Henry said.

The US Supreme Court ruled in 2002 in Atkins v. Virginia that it is unconstitutional to execute someone with an intellectual disability. But Payne -- whose attorneys say he has a functional IQ of 68 -- was unable to make his case in Tennessee until Gov. Bill Lee signed a into law legislation this year changing the state's definition of an intellectual disability and establishing a procedure for death row inmates claiming to have a disability to appeal their sentences.

The office of Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich last week announced it was filing a petition to remove Payne's death sentences after acknowledging a state expert had examined Payne and "could not say Payne's intellectual functioning is outside the range for intellectual disability."

Shelby County Judge Paula Skahan wrote in an order filed Tuesday that Payne's petition "is supported by two expert opinions concluding that Petitioner is intellectually disabled pursuant to Tennessee law as well as the decisions of the United States Supreme Court."

"I can go home and relax," Payne's father said Tuesday, according to CNN affiliate WMC, "and know that justice has prevailed."

"Thanksgiving for me will never be the same and I am sure I am speaking for my father as well," said Rolanda Holman, Payne's sister, per the Innocence Project, which has been involved in Payne's case.

"Although he is not able to come to the table and have Thanksgiving with us," she said, "it gives me such a drive and reignites my fire even more to work toward that day when he will be able to sit at the table with our family and have a good slice of turkey."

As for the victim's family, the DA's office said it met with them this month "to explain the current reality with which we are now faced."

"The family was not happy, but they understand," the statement said. "We can't change the facts and we can't change the law."

Carl Payne, front left at the microphone, speaks with reporters about his son, Pervis Payne, on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, in Memphis.

Innocence claim

A resentencing hearing has been scheduled for December 13, when the judge is expected to decide whether Payne should serve the two life sentences concurrently, like his attorneys have asked, or consecutively, at the DA's request.

According to WMC, Henry said after Tuesday's hearing that a concurrent sentence would mean Payne would eligible for parole in about six years.

While Payne, his family and supporters are grateful for this week's ruling, they will not rest until he is exonerated, Henry told CNN.

Henry told CNN that Payne was visiting his girlfriend across the hall from the victims when he discovered them. Payne, 20 at the time, tried to help the victims, who were White, she said, but realized that as a Black man he would be suspected of the crime, and he ran from the scene.

A judge ruled last year that evidence in the case be DNA tested, and according to statements from his Payne's attorneys, the results show male DNA from an unknown third party were found on the murder weapon. However, the DNA is "too degraded to identify an alternate suspect via the FBI's database," according to his attorneys. As a result, it was not enough to exonerate Payne. Payne's attorneys have been unable to obtain other evidence -- like fingernail scrapings from the victim -- for DNA testing.

While the Shelby County District Attorney's Office acknowledged Payne could not be executed, it rejected his innocence claims, saying evidence of his guilt "has never changed or weakened."

DNA testing has failed to exonerate Payne, and Payne's conviction has been reviewed multiple times by appeals courts at both the state and federal levels, the statement said.

"The Tennessee Supreme Court called Payne's self-serving testimony 'unbelievable and contrary to human conduct and experience,'" the statement said. "The U.S. Supreme Court called the evidence against Payne 'overwhelming and relatively uncontroverted.'"

Payne's family, however, remains hopeful, Henry said.

"His sister and father are people of deep faith, as is Pervis, and they believe Pervis is coming home soon," Henry said. "They believe this was God's will, and that God is acting through his case."

LINK

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Today’s Action: Sign up to attend a March On for Voting Rights in your area THIS SATURDAY!

In the past eight months, there have been 389 voter suppression bills introduced across 48 states. These laws specifically target methods of voting that increase turnout, things like mail-in voting, banning ballot boxes, reducing early voting hours — and even going so far as to criminalize water distribution to long voting lines. 

These laws pave the way for Republicans to rig elections by keeping Democrats from voting, and communities across America need protections at the federal level immediately. That’s why OD Action is cosponsoring March On For Voting Rights in major cities around the country THIS SATURDAY. 

See if there are any March On For Voting Rights events in your area this Saturday, and if there are, sign up to attend! Can’t make it? Share about the event using the hashtag #VotingRightsMarch!

In the fight for our democracy, we need all hands on deck. We’ve already seen incredible acts of determination from legislators like the Texas Democrats, who risked arrest to block voter suppression bills; from Joyce Beatty, the Democrat from Ohio, who gathered an all-Black female protest at the Capitol and was subsequently arrested. Together, we have so much power -- use that power and join those leaders in the struggle for voting rights this weekend!

Make your voice loud and clear by signing up for a March On For Voting Rights event in your area, this Saturday! If you can’t make it, do your part to share the event using the hashtag #VotingRightsMarch!