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Michael
Marsh,
the
Fort
Lauderdale
man
who
alleged
that
Fort
Lauderdale
Police
wrongfully
set
him
up
him
in
a
Holiday
Park
public
sex
sting
has
reason
to
be
relieved
about
the
charges
he
faced
in
a
Fort
Lauderdale
Courtroom.
For
months,
city
attorneys
have
been
trying
to
convince
a
county
Judge
that
Marsh
instigated
a
sexual
tryst
in
near
the
park’s
baseball
fields
and
that
he
was
willing
to
pay
and
undercover
officer
for
sex.
But
Marsh
and
his
attorney,
Norm
Kent,
argued
that
the
charges
were
bogus.
On
Thursday,
Broward
County
Judge
Gary
Cowart,
agreed
with
Marsh
and
dismissed
all
charges
against
him.
In
a
three-page
ruling,
Cowart
said
that
Fort
Lauderdale
Police
unfairly
entrapped
Marsh
by
luring
him
into
a
sexual
situation,
inducing
him
to
expose
himself
to
an
undercover
officer
before
arresting
him
on
false
prostitution
charges,
approximately
a
block
outside
of
the
park.
Marsh,
an
unemployed
resident
of
Fort
Lauderdale,
said
he
feels
relieved
that
the
case
has
been
thrown
out.
Yet
he
says
he
still
feels
wary
of
retaliation.
Marsh
encountered
undercover
Fort
Lauderdale
Police
officer
Nick
Coffin
in
the
afternoon
Aug.
20
near
the
baseball
fields
of
Holiday
Park.
The
park
has
been
under
surveillance
by
police
sting
operations
that
target
public
sex
and
drug
use
there.
Mayor
Jim
Naugle
has
used
the
arrests
there
as
a
platform
for
his
comments
against
gay
cruising
in
parks
and
public
bathrooms.
Naugle
has
boasted
about
his
initiative
in
Holiday
Park
to
thwart
what
he
calls
“illegal
homosexual
activity.”
Kent
says
that
Cowart’s
ruling
shows
that
the
only
illegal
sexual
activity
happening
in
the
park
is
perpetrated
by
undercover
Fort
Lauderdale
Police.
According
to
Judge
Cowart’s
ruling,
based
on
court
testimony
and
police
surveillance
video
taken
from
within
Coffin’s
vehicle,
Coffin
steered
the
conversation
with
Marsh
toward
sex,
telling
Marsh
“I’m
a
bottom,
I
like
the
guys
to
be
on
top.”
Coffin
repeatedly
asked
Marsh
“what
are
you
working
with,”
to
which
Marsh
opened
the
passenger
door
of
Coffin’s
vehicle
and
exposed
himself.
On
the
video
footage
Marsh
is
then
seen
reaching
toward
the
undercover
officer
to
grope
his
crotch.
Coffin
then
asked
Marsh
to
“hop
in,”
but
Marsh
refused.
He
agreed
to
follow
Coffin
to
an
apartment
nearby.
As
he
drove
out
the
park
Coffin
could
be
heard
telling
other
officers
over
a
cell
phone
that
he
could
arrest
Marsh
on
prostitution
charges.
The
surveillance
video
also
shows
that
when
the
men
arrived
at
the
apartment
Coffin
asked
Marsh
for
money
for
sex.
Marsh
refused,
saying
that
he
is
unemployed.
However,
officers
arrested
Marsh
charging
him
with
prostitution,
indecent
exposure
and
battery.
“This
court
finds
that
the
defendant
was
entrapped
as
a
matter
of
law,”
Cowart
wrote
in
his
decision.
“The
defendant
proved
that
he
was
induced
by
officer
Coffin
to
commit
these
acts.”
In
his
ruling
Cowart
added
that
that
battery
charges
leveled
against
Marsh
for
touching
Coffin,
“was
a
natural
extension
of
the
conversation
between
the
two
men
and
would
not
have
occurred
but
for
the
inducement
of
Officer
Coffin.”
Cowart’s
ruling
sets
the
foundation
for
a
class
action
lawsuit
to
be
filed
by
attorney
Norm
Kent,
who
represented
Marsh.
He
said
the
ruling
debunks
Naugle’s
claim
that
gay
men
are
committing
sex
acts
in
public
parks.
“It
sends
the
message
to
the
community
that
the
mayor
was
misleading
citizens
into
thinking
that
gay
men
were
responsible
for
illicit
conduct
in
parks,”
Kent
said.
“When
all
the
unlawful
activity
was
done
by
law
enforcement
officers.”
Reached
at
his
office
Wednesday,
Naugle
said
he
supports
the
police
stings
in
the
park.
Naugle
said
that
he
believes
the
original
police
report
that
states
that
Marsh
exposed
himself
in
view
of
children
in
the
park.
According
to
the
surveillance
video,
though,
Marsh
is
almost
fully
inside
Coffin’s
vehicle
when
he
did
so.
There
are
no
children
in
sight.
“I
stand
by
the
police
department,”
Naugle
said.
Naugle
denied
that
Cowart’s
ruling
calls
into
question
the
way
police
conduct
public
sex
stings
in
city
parks.
He
said
the
court
ruling
did
not
disturb
him.
“This
is
one
case,”
Naugle
said.
“You
win
some,
you
lose
some.”
Kent
has
notified
the
city
of
his
intent
to
sue
and
Marsh
will
likely
be
the
lead
plaintiff.
However,
he
said,
it
is
difficult
to
find
men
who
qualify
because
most
plead
out
in
court,
thus
waiving
their
right
to
sue.
“The
police
have
been
targeting
gay
people
unjustifiably,”
Kent
said.
“This
is
proof
that
if
you’re
willing
to
stand
up
and
have
your
voice
heard
you
will
be
vindicated.”
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