THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994               TAG: 9410280625
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES 
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS, NEV.                    LENGTH: Short :   36 lines

COUGHLIN ONLY MILDLY INJURED AT TAILHOOK, HOTEL LAWYERS SAY

Winding up a seven-week trial that offered a chronicle of debauchery by naval aviators at the 1991 Tailhook Association convention here, lawyers for Paula A. Coughlin said she should receive $5 million to $10 million dollars in damages resulting from a sexual assault on her.

Lawyers for the Hilton hotel where the convention took place countered in closing arguments that Coughlin, a former Navy lieutenant who was the original whistle-blower on events at the convention of the association, had suffered only ``mild'' injuries from the incident.

Coughlin has accused the Hilton Hotels Corp. and its subsidiaries of failing to set up proper security for the convention, even though the hotel had been the scene of 19 previous Tailhook conventions, events that almost invariably turned into a full weekend of wild partying. The Tailhook Association is an independent group of retired and active aviators.

Coughlin, 32, a former helicopter pilot in Virginia Beach, was among several dozen women who were groped by drunken male aviators in a crowded third-floor ``gantlet'' during the final day of the convention.

The jurors, who began deliberations Thursday afternoon, will decide whether Hilton Hotels was negligent. If so, the jury would also decide whether Hilton must pay damages and how much. The jurors deliberated for two hours before adjourning until this morning.

KEYWORDS: TAILHOOK LAWSUIT TRIAL by CNB