Death Penalty

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a Souderton man accused in the rape and murder of 9-year-old Skyler Kauffman, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said Monday. James Lee Troutman, 24, is expected to stand trial later this year on charges of first- and second-degree murder as well as a host of sexual-assault charges stemming from the slaying of Skyler earlier this month. And from the beginning, fighting off a potential death sentence has been integral to preparing his defense, his attorney, Craig Penglase, said in an interview last week.

An Atlantic County man, convicted of the brutal beating death of a 73-year- old Egg Harbor City man, was spared the death penalty yesterday, when a jury failed to decide whether he should be executed. Aaron Huff, 26, was convicted Friday of capital murder in the Feb. 3, 1984, death of William Peak. Peak, a friend of Huff's, died of a fractured skull, three broken ribs and a fractured breastbone. A 12-member jury found Huff guilty of the murder and burglary after two weeks of testimony.

IAPPLAUD Elmer Smith for his Sept. 10 column, "A Death Grip on the Death Penalty. " Yes, as perhaps in the Nick Yarris and similar cases, prosecutors seem to hate to admit their mistakes. Consider, for example, Gov. Rendell, a former prosecutor. In March, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System recommended a moratorium on the death penalty pending further analysis of an apparent correlation between race and economic status and death penalty sentences.

AS THE name suggests, the "death penalty" is the most severe punishment the NCAA can levy on a school's athletic program. The sanctioned team is not allowed to compete for one or two seasons. Initially put in place in the early 1980s, the rule punishes schools for a second violation in the same sport or another sport within 5 years of being placed on probation. The second sport to have violations would be shut down. However, the NCAA does have the power to shut down a school from playing a particular sport if the violations are particularly egregious.

Supreme Court justices yesterday listened to what may be the last sweeping legal challenge to capital punishment in the United States - a contention that the race of the victim plays a key role in determining which murderers go to death row and which do not. In challenging a Georgia death-penalty case, John Charles Boger, a staff attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, cited studies concluding that killers of whites are 11 times more likely...

I often hear the argument that the Constitution permits the death penalty, and therefore it can be changed only by amendment - most recently in a letter from Bill Orth (March 11). I wish these people would read the Constitution. Amendment VII states: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. " What was not cruel and unusual in 1789 may be cruel and unusual today. No amendment is needed to interpret that.

He had no coterie of uninformed dilettantes to buy a full-page ad in the New York Times to plead his case, so Robert Brecheen was killed by the people of Oklahoma last week. But before the 40-year-old killer could be put to sleep, guards had to wake him up. Found overdosed a few hours before the scheduled execution, Brecheen was revived, so he could receive a state-sanctioned dose of poison. At least he didn't commit suicide. If it hadn't been for an emergency stay obtained without his consent, Leon Moser would have gone to his death tonight, executed by the good people of Pennsylvania.

Nevada-Las Vegas will avoid the NCAA's "death penalty" for violations in the latest probe of the university's basketball program, according to the head of the NCAA Committee on Infractions. D. Alan Williams said yesterday that the penalty - indefinite suspension of an athletic program - is reserved for programs that have been found to have committed a major violation within five years of the start of a major penalty. UNLV will not be allowed on live television next year or to appear in the NCAA postseason tournament, but those penalties were the result of alleged recruiting violations in 1977.