TALLAHASSEE -- The next man in line for the electric chair may be strange, but he's not mentally ill enough to escape the death penalty, a judge ruled Friday.

Attorneys for Thomas Provenzano, who was sentenced to die for a 1984 Orange County courthouse shooting rampage that left one bailiff dead and two paralyzed, said Provenzano believes he's Jesus Christ. Fellow Death Row inmates said he sleeps under his bunk and stuffs rags in his mouth to ``escape demons.''

But senior Judge Edward Bentley, appointed by the state Supreme Court to hear Provenzano's claim of insanity, was unpersuaded.

``The court finds that Provenzano may have mental health problems, but that these problems do not prevent him from having the required mental capacity to understand the fact of the impending execution and the reason for it,'' Bentley said.

The judge said it's not uncommon for inmates at Florida State Prison to sleep on the floor because there is no air conditioning and the concrete floor is cooler.

Provenzano's attorneys said they'll appeal, because a doctor who found Provenzano incompetent didn't get to testify.

But Bentley said he tried to get Provenzano's doctor to testify, but the doctor was unable to because of scheduling conflicts. Bentley said the Wyoming doctor was called, but declined to testify over the phone because she didn't have her notes.

Provenzano, scheduled to die Sept. 14, is challenging the electric chair's fitness, charging that it cannot reliably deliver a quick and painless death. The Florida Supreme Court could rule on his challenge at any moment.

Provenzano attended a hearing on the chair in Orlando last month and watched as his attorneys showed bloodied pictures of the last man to die in it.

A doctor hired by the state to evaluate Provenzano's mental condition said he never saw any ``bizarre behavior.'' Harry McClaren said Provenzano talked with his lawyers, read documents and ``looked horrified'' when the post-execution photographs of triple murderer Allen Lee Davis were displayed.
e-mail: lclark@herald.com