(24/7NEWS) Jeffrey Finley’s defense attorney, Philip Skodinski, asked a judge this morning for permission to carry out a psychological evaluation on the teenage man who admitted to the 2006 murder of Cpl. Scott Severns.

Skodinski also asked that Finley’s sentencing hearing, which begins Sept. 12, be postponed.

Finley, 19, has pleaded guilty to murder and robbery in the shooting death of the 36-year-old South Bend officer, and faces a maximum sentence of life without parole.

Skodinski hired a mitigation expert — or one to look into Finley’s past for evidence that would call for a more lenient sentence — earlier this year. He told Judge Roland W. Chamblee Jr. today that the mitigation expert had asked for a psychological evaluation.

Chief deputy prosecutor Frank Schaffer objected to the request, arguing that he saw no good reason for it. Chamblee gave Skodinski until Sept. 7 to come up with a valid reason for a psychological evaluation or he might deny his request.

During the hearing, there was mention of Finley suffering from learning disabilities, which might have affected his judgment at the time he tried to rob Severns, who was off-duty but was carrying a firearm and exchanged fire with him.

After the hearing, Skodinski explained that a psychological evaluation might help the judge understand why Finley “did what he did.”

Severns’ mother, Kathy Karczewski, expressed frustration after the hearing at the possibility that Finley’s sentencing, which has once been postponed, might be again delayed.

“I’m very disappointed,” she said. “It’s hard on the family.”