Amid Doubts About Competency, Mentally Ill Man Faces Execution in today's New York Times:

"Barring an unexpected reprieve, James Colburn will be executed on Wednesday for the 1994 strangulation and stabbing death of Peggy Murphy. He admits he committed the murder, just as prosecutors admit the other salient point in the case: that Mr. Colburn is severely mentally ill."

Mr. Colburn was given copious amounts of anti-psychotic drugs during his trial. He slept through most of it. That is the issue now before the Supreme Court--"whether it matters that he dozed through his own murder trial because he was so heavily medicated with antipsychotic drugs. His lawyers argue that the trial was unconstitutional, because his condition rendered him incompetent to stand trial. The federal appeals courts, so far, have disagreed, and the issue is now before the Supreme Court."

We recommend reading the article for the details of his mental illness, and the jurors' reactions to learning about it after the trial.