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''Payne v. Tennessee'', 501 U.S. 808 (1991) was a United States Supreme Court decision which held that testimony on the form of a victim impact statement is admissible during the sentencing phase of a trial and, in death penalty cases, does not violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause. ''Payne'' overruled two of the Courts' precedents: ''Booth v. Maryland'' and ''South Carolina v. Gathers''. ==Background== Pervis Tyrone Payne was the defendant in this trial prosecuted in Tennessee. On Saturday, June 27, 1987, he attempted to rape an acquaintance of his, Charisse Christopher, and finally he murdered her and her two-year-old daughter, Lacie. Neighbors heard noises and yelling, and called the police. Upon arriving, a police officer "immediately encountered Payne who was leaving the apartment building, so covered in blood that he appeared to be 'sweating blood'". The police found "a horrifying scene." Forty-two stab wounds were on Charisse's body, and Lacie and Nicholas had suffered stab wounds as well. Payne fled to his girlfriend's house, and discarded his clothes, which were soaked in blood. Meanwhile, Nicholas Christopher held in his intestines while the emergency medical technicians transported him to the emergency room. There was significant physical evidence implicating the defendant: Payne's fingerprints on cans of malt liquor, the victims' blood soaked into his clothes, and his property left at the scene of the crime. Dozens of witnesses, including the police, friends, the neighbors, and experts, testified at the trial. The evidence that he perpetrated the attacks was "overwhelming," according to Chief Justice Rehnquist. Payne denied the charges, claiming he came upon the bloody victims. The district attorney stressed, in his closing arguments, the senselessness of the killings, the violence displayed by the defendant, and the innocence of the victims. The jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder and a related charge. 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. Payne appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court, and then asked for a ''writ of certiorari'' from the United States Supreme Court. ''Cert'' was granted, with the court noting that it would have to reconsider its past precedent. The case was argued on April 24, 1991 and decided on June 27, 1991.〔Facts are re-worded from the decision, ''q.v.'', (Findlaw.com ). Retrieved September 22, 2008.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Payne v. Tennessee」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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