SPOKANE, Wash. - Attorneys for Spokane rapist Kevin Coe are asking that his upcoming civil-commitment trial be moved out of Spokane County, or that jurors from elsewhere be brought in to hear the case.

KREM.com

Kevin Coe walks into a civil committment hearing at the Spokane County Courthouse in 2006.

Coe was originally charged in several of a string of rapes that terrorized Spokane in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After appeals, only one conviction ultimately stood, and he finished serving his 25-year prison sentence in 2006.

But the state kept him in custody and is seeking to have him civilly committed indefinitely as a sexual predator likely to offend again.

According to a motion filed late Thursday by Coe's attorneys, and obtained by KHQ-TV, he does not think he can get a fair commitment trial in Spokane County because of extensive publicity about his case.

He wants to be tried elsewhere or have jurors brought in from outside the county.

The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 15 in Spokane County Superior Court.

Coe has steadfastly denied he committed any rapes.