January 26, 2007

State court grants temporary stay of execution for Timberlake

By Mary Ann Wyand

Indiana Death Row inmate Norman Timberlake, who was convicted of killing a state policeman, received a temporary stay of execution on Jan. 18 when Indiana Supreme Court justices reversed an earlier decision about his capital sentence in a 3-2 vote.

Timberlake was convicted of shooting Indiana State Police Master Trooper Michael Greene during a roadside traffic stop along

I-65 in Indianapolis in 1993.

Defense attorneys had argued that Timberlake is mentally ill and should not be executed.

In their decision, the state justices took into account a case in Texas and federal case pending in the U.S. Supreme Court dealing with the legality of executing mentally ill inmates.

Glenn Tebbe, executive director of the Indiana Catholic Conference, the Church’s public policy voice, expressed gratitude on behalf of Indiana’s five bishops about the state court’s temporary ruling.

“We are grateful that the Indiana Supreme Court stayed the execution of Mr. Timberlake,” Tebbe said on Jan. 18. “This [decision] not only spares the life of Mr. Timberlake, but provides hope that there may be a better outcome than an execution. We continue to pray for the family of the victim, for Mr. Timberlake and all involved with this tragedy.”

Tebbe also noted that, “Because of [the Church’s] firm conviction that taking a life is only morally justified when it is the only option in defense of life, we hope and pray that one day Indiana’s law will exclude the death penalty as an option within the penal code.” †

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