Payne v. Tennessee Essay

Facts After spending a morning and afternoon drinking beer and injecting cocaine, Pervis Tyrone Payne entered the apartment of 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her both children, Lacie, age ii and Nicholas, age three at approximately 300 p.m. on June 27th, 1987. Payne made inner advances toward Charisse Christopher. She resisted, which lead Payne to kill both Charisse and Lacie. Nicholas was found with several(prenominal) severe stab wounds that completely penetrated him front to back, entirely he managed to survive. Payne was apprehended later that day privateness in the attic of a former female childs house. Payne was convicted by a jury of dickens aims of murder. At sentencing, Payne presented the good word 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 low intelligence and mentally handicapped. The tell presented the testimony of Ms.Christophers mother, who spok e of the negative jar of the murders on Nicholas. Furthermore, the prosecutor presented argument regarding Nicholas experience. The jury sentenced the Payne to death 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 ordinal Amendment prohibit a not bad(p) sentencing jury from considering dupe impact present relating to the own(prenominal) characteristics of the dupe and the emotional impact of the curses on the victims family?Finding No. Victim impact evidence shall not be considered according to the get together States ultimate Court. This rule was because victim impact evidence presents factors about which the suspect may have been incognizant of and therefore, the evidence has nothing to do with the blameworthiness of a particular defendant.So basically, no evidence away(p) the case and not relating directly to the circumstances of the crime was admitted. In the present case, however, the Supreme Court evince the view that a State may decent conclude that for the jury to assess meaningfully the defendants moral culpability and blameworthiness, it should have sooner it at the sentencing phase evidence of the specific abuse caused by the defendant.So, a State may permission the admission of victimimpact evidence, as the Eighth Amendment presents no per se bar. The Supreme Court of Tennessee sustain the conviction and sentence. The court rejected Paynes inclination that the admission of the grandmothers testimony and the States closing argument constituted harmful violations of his rights under the Eighth Amendment as applied in Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987), and South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989). Rational The court say Stare decisis is not an inexorable command kinda, it is a principle of policy and not a mechanized formula of adherence to the latest decision.So basically, not a ll laws are set completely in stone and it can change over conviction from case to case. The court states that neither the law nor the facts keep the prior cases have changed, merely the personnel of the Supreme Court have changed. My Notes A few things I noticed was I unclear how Payne could argue that introducing such(prenominal) evidence as the grandmother testimony encourages jurors to conclude for the death penalty based on emotions rather than lawsuit. 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 realise the proper punishment. After all the whole reason for this is to protect the victim right?