Lawyers for the state of Washington and South Hill rapist Kevin Coe will argue a series of pre-trial motions next week prior to the Sept. 15 start of Coe’s civil commitment trial.

In 2006, shortly after Coe finished a 25-year prison sentence for a single rape conviction, the Washington state Attorney General’s office filed a petition that seeks to commit him indefinitely as a violent sexual predator.

Among the issues to be discussed Monday and Tuesday in arguments before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor are whether the state will be able to present an expert that has concluded Coe’s rape “signature” was similar in 15 alleged rapes - Coe’s attorneys are objecting to the expert testimony because many of those victims couldn’t identify Coe after his arrest in March 1981.

The judge will also hear arguments over whether jurors can be told that some alleged victims took polygraph exams, and 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 was a woman who was not hypnotized.

O’Connor ruled earlier this year that 21 women on a state list of uncharged rape and indecent liberties accusations can be included in the civil commitment trial, which is expected to last up to eight weeks. (Spokesman Review)