ST. CROIX — After a Florida jury found him guilty of sexual battery involving a minor, former Senator Steven Payne Sr. is asking the court for another chance to make his case.
Attorney Christopher Carson, who represents Payne, filed a motion for new trial on October 27, five days after the jury found Payne guilty.
Payne was convicted of sexual battery involving Steffi Emilien between August 1, 2018 and February 27, 2019 when she was 17.
In his motion, Carson argued the jury’s October 22 verdict was contrary to the law and the weight of the evidence, the state’s evidence was insufficient to warrant a conviction, and the state’s evidence did not rule out all reasonable hypotheses of innocence.
Additionally, Carson argued that the court erred in denying Payne’s pretrial motions to exclude the Williams Rule evidence that was presented by the state of Florida.
The state filed three notices on March 4 that it intended to introduce evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts that Payne allegedly committed. Prosecutors sought to admit the evidence under Florida’s Williams Rule, which allows evidence of prior bad acts if it is relevant to proving motive, opportunity, intent, or other material facts.
Payne subsequently filed three motions on July 14 to block the state from introducing the evidence. Carson argued the alleged acts are not relevant to the current charge and, even if deemed relevant, their prejudicial impact outweighs their probative value. He further contended the inclusion of such evidence would confuse the jury, distract from the core issues, and jeopardize a fair trial.
The court ruled that state prosecutors could introduce evidence of two other bad acts that Payne allegedly committed, but not a third one. The court allowed the prosecution to introduce evidence of Payne’s alleged prior misconduct involving Emilien and Chezni Jones, who accused Payne of sexual misconduct on a beach in 2005.
The court, however, ruled against allowing prosecutors to introduce evidence of an alleged prior act involving one of Payne’s former legislative employees, Dene Dessuit, who filed a sexual harassment complaint against him that led to his expulsion from the Legislature in 2022 and subsequently accused him in a civil complaint of assault and false imprisonment during a stay at the King’s Alley Hotel in 2022 on St. Croix.
READ MORE: Judge allows two prior bad acts in ex-Sen. Payne’s Florida sexual battery case involving a minor
Carson also argued that the court erred in denying Payne’s objections to the state’s peremptory challenges of jurors based upon race, and in overruling Payne’s attempt to elicit testimony from the victim regarding separate allegations of molestation as a prior inconsistent statement.
Throughout the three-day trial, the defense attempted to ask the victim, Emilien, if she had ever accused the husband of one of her caretakers of sexual misconduct. Circuit Judge Meredith Charbula, during a discussion with attorneys outside of the presence of the jury, indicated that she did not allow the defense to continue that line of questioning because of Florida’s Rape Shield law, which is designed to protect victims of sexual offenses from having their past sexual behavior or reputation unfairly introduced as evidence during a criminal trial.
In addition to Emilien, Jones testified about an incident that occurred in 2005. She said Payne, a Virgin Islands Police Department officer at the time, offered to show her defensive tactics to assist in her training to be a police officer. He allegedly tried to force her to inappropriately touch him while demonstrating a defensive hold in the water at a St. John beach. She accused Payne of grabbing her and ripping her underwear when she tried to pull away.
Payne was taken into custody in handcuffs pending sentencing, which has been rescheduled for November 19. He faces up to life in prison for his first-degree felony conviction.
