Convicted Philly Gay Basher's Lawyer Asks Judge to Reconsider Sentence

PHILADELPHIA - Convicted Center City gay basher Kathryn Knott's defense attorney is asking a judge to reconsider a five- to 10-month jail sentence imposed on the suburban police chief's daughter in a group attack on a gay couple that prompted Philadelphia to add sexual orientation to its hate crime laws, Associated Press reports.

Attorney William Brennan called the sentence imposed on 25-year-old Kathryn Knott "excessive" and said it was "the result of public opinion" and not the actual defendant or her crime.

"She's learned that words and actions have a much more far-reaching impact and effect than she ever thought possible," Brennan said according to Philly Voice. "She learned that your life can change on a dime. I think, rather than warehouse her in jail for a few months and that be the end of it, perhaps some community service or a public service announcement might be more proactive and productive in addressing the larger issues that this case dealt with."

Brennan asked for probation and suggested that Knott could do a public service announcement "explaining what she has learned about tolerance over the last year."

Jurors convicted Knott of simple assault and three other misdemeanors in the September 2014 attack, which occurred as she and her friends from suburban Bucks County were celebrating a birthday in downtown Philadelphia.

Philly Voice reports that Knott's co-defendants Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams each received probation, 200 hours of community service at an LGBT Center and a ban on entering Center City during their probationary period as part of their plea deal.

Knott was offered the same deal according to Assistant District Attorney Mike Barry, but opted to face trial and ended up with the most severe punishment. Barry said prosecutors offered plea deals to each of the defendants so the victims could avoid the trauma of a trial and receive an acknowledgment of guilt.

"None of that was done by Miss Knott," Barry told reporters after the sentencing hearing. "She refused that. That's why she finds herself where she is right now."

"This behavior is a violation of human rights," said�Judge Roxanne Covington in sentencing Knott earlier this month.

"This could have been any of us and while these were homophobic slurs... It could have been any type of hateful word," Covington said.

"There was a lack of appreciation for the seriousness of this crime," Covington added. "Working in the medical field, I don't know how you could walk away and leave someone bleeding on the street."