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PSY 375 Just Mercy.docx - Just Mercy: A Story of Justice Held: The Eighth Amendment erects no per se bar prohibiting a capital sentencing jury from considering "victim impact" evidence relating to the victim's personal characteristics and the emotional impact of the murder on the victim's family, or precluding a prosecutor from arguing such evidence at a capital sentencing hearing. Pervis Payne: What You Need to Know About His Case - Innocence Project Philosophy of Law - Brandeis University Pp. Thus, a State may properly conclude that, for the jury to assess meaningfully the defendant's moral culpability and blameworthiness, it should have before it at the sentencing phase victim impact evidence. Just Mercy Essay: Most Exciting Examples and Topics Ideas TKAM Terms . [2] Payne fled to his girlfriend's house, and discarded his clothes, which were allegedly soaked in blood. During the sentencing phase of the trial, Payne called his parents, his girlfriend, and a clinical psychologist, each of whom testified as to various mitigating aspects of his background and character. In Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 827 (1991), the Supreme Court stated:[I]f the State chooses to permit the admission of victim impact evidence and prosecutory argument on that subject [during the penalty phase], the Eighth Amendment erects no per se bar. Nor is there merit to the concern voiced in Booth, supra at 482 U. S. 506, that admission of such evidence permits a jury to find that defendants whose victims were assets to their communities are more deserving of punishment than those whose victims are perceived to be less worthy. Id., at 12. He stated that he had gotten blood on himself when, after hearing moans from the Christophers' apartment, he had tried to help the victims. In September 2020, DNA testing was ordered to investigate Paynes claims of innocence. Payne v. Tennessee - Wikipedia She said that the children had come to love him very much and would miss him, and that he "behaved just like a father that loved his kids." The brutal crimes were committed in the victims' apartment afterthe mother resisted Payne's sexual advances. In this case we reconsider our holdings in Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987), and South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989), that the Eighth Amendment bars the admission of victim impact evidence during the penalty phase of a capital trial. Congress and most of the States have, in recent years, enacted similar legislation to enable the sentencing authority to consider information about the harm caused by the crime committed by the defendant. At the sentencing phase, the judge allowed both the public defender to adduce mitigating testimony from the defendant's friends and family, and the district attorney (DA) to introduce evidence from the grandmother/mother of the victims. Just Mercy Review. In the event that evidence is introduced that is so unduly prejudicial that it renders the trial fundamentally unfair, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides a mechanism for relief. Victim impact evidence is simply another form or method of informing the sentencing authority about the specific harm caused by the crime in question, evidence of a general type long considered by sentencing authorities.