Payne v. Tennessee Essay

Facts After spending a morning and by and bynoon drinking beer and injecting cocaine, Pervis Tyrone Payne entered the apartment of 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her two children, Lacie, age two and Nicholas, age terce at approximately 300 p.m. on June 27th, 1987. Payne made sexual advances toward Charisse Christopher. She resisted, which chair Payne to kill both Charisse and Lacie. Nicholas was found with several severe stab wounds that entirely penetrated him front to back, but he managed to survive. Payne was apprehended later that day hiding in the attic of a former girlfriends house. Payne was convicted by a jury of two counts of murder. At sentencing, Payne presented the testimony of his mother, father, Bobbie Thomas and a clinical psychologist. These testimonies showed Payne was of good character, he attended church and he was of diminished intelligence and mentally handicapped. The State presented the testimony of Ms.Christophers mother, who spoke of the prejudic ious impact of the murders on Nicholas. Furthermore, the prosecutor presented argument regarding Nicholas experience. The jury sentenced the Payne to end on each count of murder. History Pervis Tyrone Payne was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the jury sentenced Payne to death on each count of murder. Issue Does the Eighth Amendment prohibit a capital sentencing jury from considering victim impact evidence relating to the personal characteristics of the victim and the emotional impact of the crimes on the victims family?Finding none Victim impact evidence shall non be considered according to the fall in States irresponsible flirt. This rule was because victim impact evidence presents factors about which the defendant may have been unaware of and therefore, the evidence has nothing to do with the culpability of a particular defendant.So basically, no evidence outside the fount and not relating directly to the circumstances of the crime was admitte d. In the present case, however, the arbitrary Court expressed the view that a State may flop conclude that for the jury to assess meaningfully the defendants chaste culpability and blameworthiness, it should have before it at the sentencing phase evidence of the particular(prenominal) harm caused by the defendant.So, a State may permit the access of victimimpact evidence, as the Eighth Amendment presents no per se bar. The Supreme Court of Tennessee affirmed the conviction and sentence. The court rejected Paynes inclination that the admission of the grandmothers testimony and the States oddment argument constituted prejudicial violations of his corrects under the Eighth Amendment as apply in Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987), and South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989). Rational The court stated look decisis is not an inexorable command rather, it is a principle of policy and not a mechanical formula of adherence to the latest decision.So basically, not all j urisprudences are set completely in stone and it batch change over time from case to case. The court states that neither the law nor the facts supporting the prior cases have changed, merely the personnel of the Supreme Court have changed. My Notes A few things I noticed was I undecipherable how Payne could argue that introducing such evidence as the grandmother testimony encourages jurors to take root for the death penalty based on emotions rather than reason. But, having his parents testify that he was of good character as plays on emotion, rather than reason. To me, only after introducing victim impact evidence can the juries meaningfully determine the proper(a) punishment. After all the whole reason for this is to protect the victim right?