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Supreme Court to hear disputes over former death row inmates

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (WMC) – The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday for former death row inmate Pervis Payne.

Payne has been in prison for decades after being sentenced to death in the 1987 murders of 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter Lacie in Millington.

His death sentence was overturned in 2021 after a judge ruled that he was mentally disabled.

Last year, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a Shelby County court order that Payne's two life sentences run concurrently.

That means he would be eligible for parole in three years.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear arguments on the state's appeal to determine whether a trial court has jurisdiction to reconsider a defendant's original sentence following a finding of intellectual disability.

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