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Thursday, February 03, 2000 Page: 9A
Wilkes-Barre A Plymouth man convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in 1997
is seeking a new trial, claiming his attorney was ineffective for failing to
call witnesses to discredit the victim’s testimony. Richard M. Coss was
sentenced in January 1998 to 4 1/2 to nine years in prison for his conviction
on two counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and simple
assault and one count of indecent assault. Police said Coss accompanied the
woman to her Plymouth home from a bar, then forced her to perform sexual acts
on him. Coss has vehemently denied the allegations, once calling his
conviction a “grave mistake” by the justice system. Coss is seeking a hearing
under the state’s Post Conviction Relief Act , an appeal that is taken after
other state appeals have been exhausted. In his petition filed Tueday in
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, Coss claims his trial attorney, Charles
Ross, failed to call two witnesses who could have provided him with an alibi.
Coss also claims Ross failed to call two witnesses who would have contradicted
the victim’s version of events. Coss admitted he walked the woman home, but
insisted he had no sexual contact with her. Coss said the woman changed her
story several times, and that no physical evidence was found to substantiate
her claim. Judge Patrick Toole Jr. scheduled a hearing on the appeal for Feb.
22 at 9 a.m.