A Congressman on Trial – Part 1

           Born in small town Ohio, Donald "Buz" Lukens had a varied and largely successful political career. Graduating from Ohio State in 1954, he served in the U.S. Air Force for over six years. In 1961, he went to work for the Republican staff of the House Rules Committee.

            In 1966, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the 4^th District in the Cincinnati area. He served two terms. In 1970 he left Congress to make a run for Governor of Ohio; however, he lost the GOP primary. He was appointed to the Ohio State Senate in 1971, and served until 1986, when he ran for and won election to an open seat in the House from his District. He won re-election in 1988.

            Lukens had maintained an apartment on 5^th Street in Columbus after he left the Ohio Senate. It was in that apartment that he had sex in January of 1989 with Rosie Coffman, a 16-year-old African American girl, after paying her $40.00 and giving her gifts which included a small American flag pin. Rosie went home and reported the liaison to her mother, Anna Coffman.

            Anna Coffman made two calls. The first was to Congressman Lukens, during which she asked that he meet her to discuss his relationship with her daughter. Lukens agreed to meet her at a Columbus McDonalds. The second call was to Columbus television station WSYX to arrange a secret videotaping of her forthcoming meeting with Lukens.

            During the videotaped conversation, Anna asked Lukens why he was "messing around" with her daughter. Lukens admitted the sexual encounter, but denied knowing she was a teenager. Then he said to Anna, "Let me go back (to Washington) and see what there is part time." Anna interpreted this statement as an attempt to buy her silence. WSYX ran the video on the evening news, and all hell broke loose.

            Shortly thereafter, a Franklin County grand jury indicted Lukens on a misdemeanor charge of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor. At that time, contributing charges were tried in Juvenile Court with all adult rights, including the right to a jury trial, preserved to the defendant.

            Following the indictment, the judges of the Franklin County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court met to discuss how the matter would be handled. Since I had served a brief term on the Municipal Court and had conducted a couple of jury trials, the Administrative Judge assigned the Lukens trial to me. The circus was about to begin.