Tennessee v. Pervis Payne
Feb. 15, 2021 — Last October, a judge granted Pervis Payne’s request for DNA testing. She even allowed him to pick which items were to be tested and who would do the testing. In January, the results of those tests came back. Based on the court’s review of the report, the judge dismissed this last ditch effort to avoid execution. The results changed nothing. Why? Because Pervis Payne’s guilt does not rest on DNA. DNA did not convict him and unknown DNA on the crime scene items does not erase the facts or remove his guilt.
Payne admitted being in the apartment and having his hand on the knife in Charisse Christopher’s neck
His hat was found intertwined on the dead two-year-old baby’s arm
Three beer cans with Payne’s fingerprints were found in the apartment
His own testimony eliminates the possibility of an alternative suspect
Payne claimed he entered the victim’s apartment when he heard the baby cry
The medical examiner said the baby’s stab wounds would have been rapidly fatal
Thus, Payne would have encountered the killer when he approached the apartment
A resident who heard screams from the apartment called police
A nearby officer responded in two minutes and saw Payne running down the stairs
The officer said Payne appeared to be “sweating blood”
There was no time for an unidentified intruder to commit the murders and escape undetected ahead of Payne
Payne ran from police, but was arrested later hiding in an attic
The Tennessee Supreme Court called Payne’s self-serving testimony “unbelievable and contrary to human conduct and experience.”
Pervis Payne’s guilt does not rest on DNA. Unknown DNA does not erase the many incriminating facts or remove his guilt.
Order Dismissing “Petition for Post-Conviction DNA Analysis”