CASE OF SLAYER PROFFITT REVEALS LEGAL SHIFTS ON DEATH SENTENCE
Jul 10, 1987 at 12:00 am
TALLAHASSEE -- The Charles William Proffitt case typifies the uncertainty facing lawyers on both sides of the constantly shifting legal battle over capital punishment, top defense counsel and prosecutors said Friday.

Both sides acknowledged the irony when the Florida Supreme Court commuted Proffitt's death sentence to life in prison Thursday. Proffitt's case was one of three used by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of capital punishment in 1976.

In a 6-1 ruling, the state high court said the standard of heinousness required for an execution had changed since his 1974 conviction for the murder of a Tampa wrestling coach with a single stab wound to the chest.

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