GOSHEN, Ind. -- The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a man sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of a Goshen police officer.\nIf Frankie Salyers, 27, wins the appeal, he could face a sentence of 45 to 65 years in prison, rather than the current life term he's serving at the Indiana State Prison.\nThe Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on his appeal Oct. 3 at the court's Statehouse chambers in Indianapolis.\nElkhart Circuit Judge Gene Duffin sentenced Salyers in May 2005 to life in prison. The sentencing came 6 1/2 years after Salyers shot and killed Goshen Patrolman Thomas Goodwin in a Goshen mobile home park.\nSalyers' appeal attorney, Greg Kauffman, asked the state Supreme Court to review the sentence, citing his client's severe mental problems.\nSalyers, who killed Goodwin on Dec. 11, 1998, told police that day he was trying to commit "suicide by cop." In early 1999, Duffin found Salyers incompetent to stand trial because of his mental problems.
\nSalyers, who killed Goodwin on Dec. 11, 1998, told police that day he was trying to commit "suicide by cop." In early 1999, Duffin found Salyers incompetent to stand trial because of his mental problems.\nHe spent the next six years in the state hospital in Logansport until he improved enough to assist in his defense. Salyers pleaded guilty but mentally ill in January 2005 in a deal that meant prosecutors would not ask for the death penalty.\nThe state Supreme Court originally asked Duffin for a more detailed list of the findings that led to the life sentence. After Duffin filed that list, Kauffman continued with the appeal.
