Mistrial in 9-11 fund fraud case

WASHINGTON (AP) - A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a retired naval officer accused of defrauding a fund for the victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, after a jury could not agree on whether he was guilty of the central charge against him.

A jury found retired Cmdr. Charles Coughlin not guilty of three charges of mail fraud. But jurors said they were deadlocked on four other counts he faced, including the main charge of making a false claim to the 9-11 victims compensation fund.

They also were deadlocked on a theft of public money charge against Coughlin’s wife, Sabrina, who wrote the fund to support the award for her husband of 27 years.

The Coughlins, of Severna Park, Md., were accused of stealing $331,034 from the fund. Prosecutors said the couple filed a false claim saying that an injury Coughlin got three years earlier during home renovations was from the terrorist attack.

Coughlin argued that he seriously injured his neck when a plane crashed into the Pentagon about 75 feet from his office and pieces of the ceiling hit his head. He said he was hurt again when he went back into the burning building to rescue others and ran into a doorjamb.

Coughlin was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and Purple Heart for his actions and injuries that day.

Prosecutor Susan Menzer said it’s unclear whether they will put the Coughlins on trial again. Defense attorney Andrew Jay Graham said he hoped it wouldn’t go back to court, but added, “It’s not very satisfying not to have reached a favorable verdict on all counts.”

The trial lasted a month, and jurors deliberated for five days before sending a note to Judge Henry Kennedy saying they could only come to a unanimous decision on three counts. Kennedy sent them back to deliberate, but a few hours later they responded that agreement was hopeless.

Jurors leaving the court said they were split 10-2 on the main count.

Prosecutors had argued that Coughlin hadn’t really suffered a partial permanent disability from the attack as he claimed because the avid athlete continued to play lacrosse and basketball and ran the New York City marathon in three hours and 43 minutes.

“He ran a marathon after 9-11 so that threw a lot of suspicion on him,” said juror Lois Rosen, who voted to convict him.

But juror Brian Muldoon and juror foreman Dave Geckle said they thought Coughlin was the kind of man who wouldn’t let the pain stop him from exercising.

“I broke my hip but I still run,” Muldoon said. Geckle said he thought Coughlin was guilty when the prosecution presented its case, but changed his mind after seeing Coughlin testify because he seemed credible.

Coughlin is a graduate of the Naval Academy and Harvard Business School who spent most of his 21-year military career in the submarine service, with a top-secret security clearance and shared command of nuclear submarines.

The jurors said they were close to finding Sabrina Coughlin not guilty, but there was one holdout who wanted to convict her.