MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s now up to a judge to decide if evidence should be tested for DNA in the case of Pervis Payne, a man who’s served decades behind bars in a murder case.
Payne, who was convicted of killing Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter at a Millington apartment back in 1988, is set to be executed in December. A three-year-old little boy was also injured but survived.
Tuesday, a hearing was held to decide if DNA should be tested.
Payne’s family has been waiting decades for a hearing, as he has always maintained his innocence, saying he was trying to help the victims. Tuesday, his family was optimistic.
Payne, who is in custody in Nashville, joined the hearing by video along with a handful of other attorneys and those with the Innocence Project who are working on his case.
His family sat in the first few rows of the courtroom, state Rep. GA Hardaway was also there for the entire hearing.
Initially Payne’s attorneys believed they had discovered some bloody bed sheets that were never tested. The district attorney’s office maintained those sheets were mistakenly placed with Payne’s evidence.
Tuesday, attorneys on both sides agreed the sheets were actually part of a different case.
But Payne’s attorneys said they believe new technology needs to be used to test DNA — in this case a knife, washcloth, eyeglasses and a tampon.
Multiple experts testified. A DNA expert says he’s done post-conviction DNA testing in about 155 cases. He said in all those cases, virtually all evidence he receives is stored the same way Payne’s was stored.
Part of the reason to re-check the evidence is to see if there are in matching profiles in the FBI’s national database which was not around at the time of Payne’s case.
