Donald Franklin Paine was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1939. He earned his B.A. (1961), M.A. (1963), and LL.B. (1963) from the University of Tennessee. Immediately after graduation, Paine served in the Army as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He was discharged in 1966 and returned to Tennessee, where he authored the Tennessee Law of Evidence (1974). Paine practiced law with Paine, Tarwater, and Bickers in addition to researching Tennessee's legal history. He was a Reporter to the Supreme Court Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure, wrote a monthly column for the Tennessee Bar Journal, and lectured for the Tennessee Law Institute, the University of Tennessee College of Law, and the Tennessee Judicial Conference. Paine also served as President of the Knoxville Bar Association (1983) and of the Tennessee Bar Association (1986-1987). He died in Knoxville on November 18th, 2013.

Maurice Mays was one-quarter African-American, born to white politician John McMillan and his maid Ella Walker, of mixed race, on May 8, 1887, in Knoxville, TN. William and Frances Mays adopted him with financial support from McMillan when he was only six months old. In 1904, he shot a man in self-defense while helping police break up illegal gambling. He was tried, convicted, and pardoned due to letters of support from judge, prosecutor, and jury. Mays married Mattie Douglass on July 1, 1917, but they were later separated.

On the night of August 30, 1919, an intruder broke into the house of Bertie Lindsey and her cousin Ora Smyth. As Lindsey attempted to flee, the intruder shot and killed her. Next, he sexually assaulted Smyth, stole Lindsey's pocketbook, and fled. Policemen Andy White and Jim Smith joined other officers at the crime scene, and there White, who knew and hated Mays, accused him of the murder. At Mays' house, they smelled his pistol, which had no smell of gunfire, and transported him for identification by Smyth. Arrested and imprisoned for the murder, white rioters stormed the jail in hunt of Mays, while police absconded with him dressed as a woman to Chattanooga, TN. The rioters continued throughout the night, breaking into stores and killing innocent people.

The first trial occurred from October 1-4 that same year. After eight minutes of deliberation, a jury found Mays guilty, and Judge T. A. R. Nelson sentenced him to death. The decision was reversed by the Supreme Court because the judge sentenced Mays, but the death penalty law required the jury to sentence him.

The second trial took place from April 18-23, 1921. Eyewitness accounts varied on the description of the man, and some policemen testified they smelled gunpowder emanating from Mays' gun, while others testified they did not. Other women testified about similar assaults occurring while Mays was imprisoned; one of whom said the assailant even admitted to killing Bertie Lindsey. Despite this evidence, the jury again sentenced Mays to death by electrocution on December 15, 1921.

Governor Alf Taylor granted a postponement of the execution to March 15th, 1922, because hundreds of white and black, rich and poor, Knoxvillians wrote concerning their thoughts on Mays' guilt. Maurice Mays was executed on the set date. Though buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery (formerly the Colored Cemetery) in Knoxville, TN, his grave remains unmarked.