Huge pool of possible jurors in Coe case

A pool of 667 potential jurors has been called for the civil trial in which the state will attempt to keep the so-called South Hill Rapist in custody for the rest of his life, a judge said Monday.

Kevin Coe has already served his 25-year prison sentence for the crimes that shocked Spokane in the 1970s, but the state is now seeking through a civil process to keep him locked up as a violent sexual predator.

Coe's trial begins next Monday in Spokane County Superior Court, and is expected to last eight weeks, Judge Kathleen O'Connor told reporters.

The unusually large number of potential jurors reflects the intense interest in one of Spokane's most infamous crime sprees. O'Connor's courtroom will also have extra security, with visitors going through a second round of searches and metal detectors in addition to the normal security.

A second courtroom where the trial can be viewed on closed circuit television is being set up to accommodate the large number of visitors and news media that are expected, O'Connor said.

Coe, 61, has requested that he not be filmed while listening to testimony.

"He does not want to be filmed in the courtroom." O'Connor said. But he can be filmed in hallways as he is escorted in and out of the courtroom.

Coe was originally linked to 43 rapes that terrorized Spokane's posh South Hill area in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was convicted of four. Appellate courts threw out three of the convictions, leaving Coe with a single rape conviction. He served 25 years, completing his sentence in 2006.

The state contends he suffers from a disorder that prevents him from controlling his sexual behavior.

Coe has steadfastly maintained his innocence.

Coe has been held at the state's Special Commitment Center at McNeil Island near Tacoma since his release from prison, although he was recently moved to Spokane County. If the jury finds that Coe is likely to re-offend, he would be committed to McNeil Island and held indefinitely until experts conclude it is safe to release him.

Coe's crimes reached a national audience, especially after his late mother, Ruth, tried to hire a hit man to kill the judge and prosecutor. His father, the late Gordon Coe, was managing editor of The Spokane Chronicle and directed that newspaper's coverage of the "South Hill rapist" case until his son was charged. Kevin Coe's story was the subject of books and a television movie.

O'Connor is scheduled to rule this week on whether the state will be able to present an expert who has concluded Coe's rape "signature" was similar to that of the perpetrator in 15 other rapes. Coe's attorneys are objecting to the expert testimony because many of the 15 victims couldn't identify Coe after his arrest in March 1981.

O'Connor will also rule on whether jurors can be told that some alleged victims took polygraph exams, and that one failed.

And she will rule on whether Coe's lawyers can mention that some of his accusers failed to identify him in lineups after they were hypnotized. A Spokane Police Department decision to hypnotize several alleged victims led the Washington Supreme Court in 1988 to overturn three of Coe's four 1985 rape convictions. The only case that stood involved a woman who was not hypnotized.