Statement from the Innocence Project and Pervis Payne’s Legal Team on DNA Testing Results
By Innocence Staff
Pervis Payne in Riverbend Maximum Security institution in Tennessee. (Image: Courtesy of PervisPayne.Org)
Today, the Innocence Project submitted results of DNA testing to the Shelby County Criminal Court in Pervis Payne’s case pursuant to the Court’s September 16, 2020 order for testing. Governor Lee has given Mr. Payne a reprieve of execution due to the COVID-19 pandemic until April 9, 2021 and his petition for clemency is currently pending. Mr. Payne is a person with an intellectual disability who has consistently asserted his innocence from the beginning.
An attorney for Pervis Payne says DNA evidence belonging to the Tennessee death row inmate has been found on part of a knife used in the slayings of a mother and daughter 33 years ago, but DNA from an unknown man also was found on the murder weapon
Pervis Payne case: tests show DNA of death row inmate and unknown man on knife
An attorney for Pervis Payne said not only was Payne s DNA found, but DNA from an unknown man also was found on the murder weapon.
Credit: AP Published: 2:35 PM CST January 19, 2021 Updated: 2:51 PM CST January 19, 2021
MEMPHIS, Tenn. An attorney for Pervis Payne says DNA evidence belonging to the Tennessee death row inmate has been found on part of a knife used in the slayings of a mother and daughter 33 years ago, but DNA from an unknown man also was found on the murder weapon.
Attorney Kelley Henry presented a report on DNA tests on the knife and other evidence ordered by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan in September.