Coe's civil-commitment case grows by 21 victims

Coe's civil-commitment case grows by 21 victims | Seattle Times Newspaper, May 31, 2008:

The Spokane judge who will preside over rapist Kevin Coe's civil-commitment trial this fall has decided that 21 women on a state list of uncharged rape and indecent-liberties accusations can be included in the trial to determine whether Coe is a violent sexual predator likely to rape again.

Among the 17 rape cases allowed to proceed, "I find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the perpetrator was Mr. Coe," Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen M. O'Connor said in the decision released Friday.

The state is "very pleased" with O'Connor's ruling, said Assistant Attorney General Todd Bowers, the lead attorney in the state's case against Coe.

Earlier posts about the Coe case are here.

Todd Bowers is a UW Trial Ad instructor.