Child murder trial set for May as judge refuses to dismiss charges

A Montgomery County Court judge refused Friday to dismiss charges against accused child-killer James Lee Troutman despite defense claims that writings seized by police from the defendant's jail cell last year prejudiced the case.

After the body of 9-year-old Skyler Kauffman was found at a Souderton apartment complex in May 2011, Troutman was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree murder, kidnapping, and rape.

He is held in the Montgomery County prison. Part of his time has been spent writing down his thoughts for his lawyers, psychiatrist, and another inmate.

Judge William R. Carpenter ruled Friday that when prosecutors seized 18 pages of those writings on Oct. 31, they were not violating attorney-client privilege or illegally intruding into the defense case.

Because of that finding, Carpenter ordered jury selection in the trial to begin May 21.

At the same time, the judge chastised prosecutors for not being discriminating enough in choosing which documents to leave alone.

One in particular, titled "21 things to talk about with my lawyer, each of them very important," should not have been seized because it was covered by attorney-client privilege, the judge ruled.

"The title clearly should have been a red flag," Carpenter said.

Carpenter ruled that prosecutors might not use the seized documents at any phase of the trial. They had hoped to use two of the pages during the penalty phase.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and defense attorney John I. McMahon Jr. both declined to comment on the judge's ruling after the morning hearing in Norristown. They cited a gag order that Carpenter had placed on participants as the reason.

After Kauffman's body was found last May, police moved quickly to identify neighbor Troutman, then 24, as a suspect. He subsequently confessed to the murder.

McMahon said during Friday's hearing that by seizing the materials, prosecutors had improperly gained access to the defense's thought process, its trial strategy, and how it regarded evidence and expert witnesses.

Deputy District Attorney Thomas W. McGoldrick countered by saying that Troutman himself opened the door to scrutiny when he wrote his thoughts to another inmate and failed to mark any of his writings as confidential.

Another issue the two debated was whether the seizure of the writings had ruptured the relationship between attorney and client.

McMahon argued it had. McGoldrick disagreed, saying Troutman had made no move to fire his lead attorney, William Craig Penglase.

Carpenter said in his ruling that the relationship "has improved." It likely will smooth out before the matter goes to trial in May, he said.