Knott seeks lighter sentence in attack on gay couple
A lawyer for Kathryn Knott on Wednesday asked a judge to reconsider the Bucks County woman's jail sentence for a 2014 attack on a gay couple in Center City that drew national attention.
A lawyer for Kathryn Knott on Wednesday asked a judge to reconsider the Bucks County woman's jail sentence for a 2014 attack on a gay couple in Center City that drew national attention.
As an alternative to being locked up, attorney William Brennan suggested that 25-year-old Knott could perform a public-service announcement "where she could take the infamy of the arrest and maybe heal some wounds."
Knott was sentenced Feb. 8 to five to 10 months in county prison by Common Pleas Court Judge Roxanne Covington after being convicted by a jury in December on four misdemeanor counts but acquitted of felony aggravated assault.
Her two male codefendants were sentenced to probation after pleading guilty in the case.
Brennan said there should be parity in the sentences and Knott "can't be punished for exercising her constitutional right to a trial."
He said that Knott will "be out in a few months either way," so sentencing her instead to community service would "turn it into something positive."
Covington also sentenced Knott to two years' probation after her jail term, ordered her to pay a $2,000 fine and attend anger-management classes, and banned her from coming to Philadelphia during her probation except when required.
Brennan said his client is serving her sentence "quietly and with dignity" but that she could be doing something meaningful for the LGBT community through community service.
Knott had a 10-day window to ask the judge to reconsider her sentence.
She has 30 days from her sentencing to decide whether to take her case to an appeals court.
Brennan said that decision had not been made.
215-854-5983
@RobertMoran215