Coe: Inside the courtroom
Juror: Coe credibility "zero"
The state's case against Kevin Coe was convincing, and Coe's own credibility was "zero," says the head juror in his civil commitment trial.
Defense attorneys "put forth a gallant effort, but they didn't have a whole lot to work with," said presiding juror Mattias Herzog.
"We feel a little uncomfortable, but we feel we did the right thing," added another juror, Joel Wilborn, citing the importance of the high-profile case and the "overwhelming" amount of evvidence.
Sitting through the 11-day trial - with its coarse language and description of brutal crimes - was draining, Herzog said.
"I haven't slept well for three weeks," he said, adding: "You don't like to think that people can do that to each other. Everybody's got a sister, a wife ... it's horrible."
Testimony by rape victims was sobering, said Wilborn.
"We weren't just reading about something," he said. "We were looking into the eyes of someone who had been attacked by this person."
In addition to "very compelling" testimony of psychologist Amy Phenix, one of the most convincing pieces of the state's case was its attack on Coe's credibility, Herzog said.
State attorneys pointed out a dozen instances where Coe gave different answers between his previous two trials and this one, he said.
"I don't have my calculator, but I think that's 36 (versions). That's not good," said Herzog, a stockbroker.
The most difficult part of the deliberations was deciding whether Coe had a "mental abnormality," as defined by the law, he said.
"We had to do a lot of talking on that one," Herzog said.
Wilborn said there was quite a bit of uncertainty about that when jurors began deliberating yesterday afternoon.
However, he added, everyone slept on it and "came back this morning with a whole new attitude."
While defense attorneys said they were surprised at how quickly the jury returned its verdict, Herzog said: "It didn't feel that quick to us."
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It's a big thing to take away someone's life, to inter them in prison for an indeterminate time, possible for their entire life. But it looks like that burden was overcome here. I doubt anyone will miss Coe not walking the streets.
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Kevin Coe, labeled the "South Hill rapist" in a community frightened by dozens of attacks on women in the Spokane area in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has been in prison since 1981. He was slated for release in September 2006 when the Washington state attorney general's office moved to have Coe spend the rest of his life in prison through the civil commitment program. In this trial, the state seeks to convince jurors that Coe represents too much of a threat to ever be released.
Karen Dorn Steele has been a Spokesman-Review reporter since 1982,
covering the courts, environment, enterprise and investigative beat. She
lived in Spokane in 1980 when a series of unsolved rapes terrorized the
city. 
Rick Bonino has worked at The Spokesman-Review in various positions
since 1977. He covered both of Kevin Coe's previous trials, in 1981 and
1985, and also Ruth Coe's trial in 1982. 
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