Payne v. Tennessee
United States Supreme Court
501 U.S. 808 (1991)
Pervis Tyrone Payne (defendant) murdered Charisse Christopher and her two-year-old daughter and assaulted her three-year-old son, who survived, after Charisse rejected his sexual advances; he was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault with intent to commit murder. At the capital sentencing hearing, the state presented testimony from Charisse's mother describing how the surviving son frequently cried for his mother and sister, along with prosecutorial remarks emphasizing the son's suffering, and the jury sentenced Payne to death on both murder counts.
Whether the Eighth Amendment categorically bars a capital sentencing jury from hearing victim impact evidence describing the victim's personal characteristics or the crime's emotional effect on surviving family members.