Octogenarian jewelry thief too sick for trial, court filing says

ATLANTA — Doris Payne, who has stolen about $2 million in jewelry over the last six decades and reflected on her crimes in a documentary, is now too sick to withstand trial, according to a document filed in Fulton County Superior Court.

Payne’s trial was scheduled to start Feb. 21, nearly 16 months after authorities said she stole a pair of Christian Dior earrings from Saks Fifth Avenue at Phipps Plaza in October 2015.

However, the case is now on indefinite hold, according to an administrative order signed by Deputy Chief Judge Alford J. Dempsey Jr. on Feb. 23.

“The Defendant in this matter has demonstrated, by and through her counsel, that her current medical condition[s] preclude this matter from moving forward toward final resolution,” Dempsey said in the order.

“Should the Defendant’s condition change for the better this matter will be reviewed at that time,” he said in the order.

It isn’t the first time Payne’s health has halted proceedings.

At the time of the alleged theft at Phipps Plaza, Payne had a warrant out for her arrest in North Carolina on another theft charge, according to Fulton County jail records.

“We called and talked to [officials in North Carolina] and they decided they wouldn’t extradite her, which is often the case, for a bunch of reasons,” Payne’s attorney Shawn McCullers told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2015. “We voiced our concerns about the frailty of her health.”