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Attorneys for inmate Pervis Payne have filed a petition asking for the chance to present their client’s intellectual disability claim in court.

Tennessee lawmakers have passed legislation designed to prevent death row inmates with an intellectual disability from being executed.

Tennessee lawmakers are advancing legislation designed to prevent death row inmates with an intellectual disability from being executed.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A judge on Monday filed an order dismissing Pervis Payne’s DNA petition. On July 22, attorneys for the Tennessee death row inmate filed a petition for DNA testing to be performed on several key pieces evidence. The court granted the request in September. READ: Pervis Payne DNA Final Order The results from […]

A hearing on DNA testing connected to the Pervis Payne case will take place on Tuesday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee governor Bill Lee has granted temporary reprieve for Tennessee death row inmate Pervis Payne. “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,” Lee said in a statement released Friday afternoon. Payne was convicted of […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – – A new bill filed by Tennessee lawmakers could save the life of a Millington man on death row. 53-year-old Pervis Payne says he has an intellectual disability, which would mean he can’t be executed. However, currently, there’s no procedure for him to make his claim in a Tennessee court. “The gap […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Dozens of supporters held a rally for Pervis Payne on his behalf, on Saturday. His supporters stood with the ‘I am a Man’ plaza as the backdrop, with many of them wearing his name on their shirts.  Some offered Payne words of encouragement, to keep fighting, as they are on his behalf. […]

A Tennessee death row inmate who has always claimed innocence is asking the governor to commute his sentence to life in prison.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A criminal court judge on Wednesday granted a request for post-conviction DNA analysis to an inmate sentenced to death row in a decades-old Millington murder case. Judge Paula Skahan decided that DNA testing was warranted in the case of Pervis Payne after reviewing his attorneys’ petition, a response from the state and […]

A Tennessee death row inmate is asking a federal judge to postpone his December execution, arguing that he is intellectually disabled.