Payne v. State

Robert Lee Payne, Jr., was indicted for and convicted of the robbery of Ronnie Thomas, the assistant manager of Food World No. 5 in Fairfield, Jefferson County, Alabama.

Thereafter he was sentenced to life imprisonment pursuant to the Alabama Habitual Felony Offender Act.

His motion for a new trial was duly denied.

On September 22, 1980, two gunmen, one armed with a "sawed-off" shotgun and the other with a pistol, entered Food World No. 5 in Fairfield, Alabama, and forced Ronnie Thomas, the acting manager, to give them the cash from the office safe and the cash registers. They escorted Mr.…