Execution watch ... Indiana

Normal Timberlake is set to be executed January 19 in Indiana for killing a state trooper. His attorney wants the execution delayed until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a parallel case of Texas inmate Scott Panetti.

"Norman is paranoid schizophrenic. He is delusional. He is experiencing auditory hallucinations and he irrationally believes the government operates a machine that tortures him and is trying to kill him," [his attorney, Brent] Westerfeld said. "As is true with most people with that kind of mental illness, Norman believes he is completely sane and firmly believes this machine exists."

[Norman] Timberlake talked about the machine during his clemency hearing before the state Parole Board on Monday, saying the federal government should look into the use of the machine.Westerfeld said that during the appeals process Timberlake wanted his attorneys to prove the machine exists.

PA: Robert Flor's insight

In the past, Robert Flor refused psychological evaluation and would not argue against getting the death penalty. After a week on new medication, that has all changed.

The Bucks County man who admitted this week to killing a Newtown police officer now says he doesn't want to be put to death and would prefer to spend the rest of his life in prison, contrary to previous testimony in the case, according to his defense team.

The defense says a new medication Robert Flor, 39, formerly of Bedminster, is taking for bipolar disorder, has dramatically changed his thinking and willingness to cooperate with his attorneys, prompting the change of heart.

''What has happened in one week, we have literally moved heaven and earth,'' Bradley Bastedo, one of Flor's three attorneys, said in court Tuesday. Flor, who hadn't been cooperating with his defense team in the weeks leading up to his guilty plea, has also agreed to get a psychological evaluation, something he's refused to do in the past.

''We continue to believe that [Flor's past] refusal to comply to testing was an outgrowth of mental illness,'' said Peter Hall, who along with Bastedo is defending Flor.

No death ... but what kind of life?

What passes for good news these days is when people who commit terrible crimes due to symptoms of an untreated mental illness are spared the death penalty.

In Ohio, one prosecutor is mad about it. He swears that Gordon Franklin, 39, will spend the rest of his life behind bars. “We will do all we can to ensure [he] never leaves prison, which is all we can do in this case."

You may remember that Franklin beat his 13-year-old daughter to death with a golf club. You may also remember that he is severely ill with bipolar disorder and was not taking medication.

And California, it looks like the prosecutor will not seek the death penalty for Lashaun Harris, who threw her three children to their death in the bay last week.

There is no good resolution to stories like these – jail is a pretty terrible place for someone with a severe mental illness, and too often you hear that once they are restored to competency, they become suicidal contemplating what they have actually done.

And these cases are far too common. The best solution is to prevent them from happening in the first place. Feeling (understandable) relief that someone won't be put to death for killing their child is a pretty poor second choice.