Man had right to defend home, family

SARASOTA -- John Coffin won't spend any more time in jail for beating up
two sheriff's deputies inside his house, striking one in the head with a
Taser gun he took from the other.

Circuit Judge Rick De Furia said at Coffin's trial Tuesday that he doesn't
condone the violence against the deputies. But Coffin, 56, had a right to
defend his family and property because the deputies had no right to be in
Coffin's house in the first place, De Furia said.

"Law enforcement was responsible for the chain of events here," De Furia
said. "I think in situations like this, officers become so frustrated they go
beyond what the law allows them to do."

The fight started when Coffin heard his wife screaming in pain, went into
the garage and saw two deputies arresting her on the floor. The deputies
were trying to serve Coffin with civil papers that had been given five days
earlier.

They had entered the garage even though they did not have a
search warrant or arrest warrant. And they arrested Coffin's wife, Cynthia,
50, on obstruction charges even though she had no obligation to follow
their orders to bring her husband outside.

"The most critical is the fact the officers broke the law by stopping the
garage door from going down," and then entering the garage, De Furia said.

A jury was picked for the trial Monday. But the judge granted a motion by
Coffin's attorneys, Derek Byrd and Brett McIntosh, and acquitted John Coffin
on five of six felony charges Tuesday morning. Coffin pleaded no contest to
the remaining charge of taking a Taser gun from one of the deputies during
the fight.

Before handing down the sentence, De Furia asked how long Coffin spent in
jail after his initial arrest. "You spent eight days in the Sarasota County
jail," De Furia said. "That's your sentence. No probation."

Relatives applauded, and Coffin walked out of the courthouse with only a
$358 bill for court costs. The sentence surprised even defense attorneys,
who had suggested De Furia sentence Coffin to probation.

Prosecutors had asked for more than a year of prison time because of
"the totality of the case" and the injuries to deputies James Lutz and
Stacy Ferris, whose name is now Stacy Brandau.

The two deputies testified about their injuries Tuesday -- three blows to the
head with the butt of the Taser gun knocked Lutz unconscious.

"I just ask that he doesn't get away with this," Brandau told the judge.

Assistant State Attorney Jeff Young told the judge the case "could have
been over in five seconds" if the Coffins "had simply come out and cooperated."

"That is a man who took it upon himself to beat up two police officers,"
Young said.

De Furia said that while he believed the deputies' mistakes were not
intentional, the Coffins had every right to lock doors, try to close their
garage door and not cooperate.

"What took place in the house was unfortunate," De Furia said, "but
Mr. Coffin ... had a right to resist."

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Those of you guys who know me probably know I am pro cop. In fact, I am willing to give these guys the benefit of the doubt and say it was a mistake or misunderstanding. I wasn't there, and I can't judge them.

You have to admit though, seeing a pair of deputies assault your wife in your own home has to get you fired up. Given that what the deputies were doing was illegal, I am happy the verdict of this case was in favour of Mr. Coffin.

As much as we need police giving us the service that they do, we need checks and balances. Whenever you have people in positions of authority over others, that authority is going to be abused, be it purposeful or not.

Another trouble point as of late has been the serving of "no knock" warrants in which officers breach entry into a house in the middle of the night or early morning. I support this tactic when it is needed, like if a suspect has a likelyhood of harming the officers. Lately though, it's been used on a very shaky basis, sometimes on faulty information and upon the wrong house.

If you put yourself in the position of a man or woman who is woken up at 4 AM to several men breaking down their front door and rushing into their home, you can see there's precious little time to figure out what is going on or what to do about it.