After only three days of deliberations a Philadelphia jury today found Kathryn Knott guilty in the brutal September 2014 attack on a gay couple. Knott was found guilty of simple assault, two counts of reckless endangerment, and conspiracy.
Philly.com reports:
A Philadelphia jury Friday found Kathryn Knott guilty of simple assault and conspiracy but acquitted her of a more serious count of aggravated assault an attack on a gay couple in Center City last year. Knott, 25, bit her lips when the jury forewoman announced the guilty verdicts. The panel convicted her of simple assault against one victim and conspiracy. Kathryn Knott, 25, of Southampton, Bucks County, was accused of punching one of the gay men and yelling anti-gay slurs. The defense contended she did not hit anyone or yell anything derogatory.
Philly.com also reports that in the end the jurors were “disgusted” with Knott’s lies and anti-gay behavior.
Three jurors spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. They all expressed sympathy for the victims — Zachary Hesse, 29, and his boyfriend, Andrew Haught, 28. Joan Bellinger, 67, the jury forewoman, said the jurors all believed Knott punched Hesse and yelled anti-gay slurs.
But she said jurors had to compromise on certain things. Another juror, Aristeo Duenas, 33, of Brewerytown, said: “The conspiracy was what was tripping us up.” He and juror Gina Cook, 36, of Roxborough, said jurors had to examine what the law said on the various charges Knott faced.
“If the decisions went the way that I wanted them to go, she would have been guilty on everything, but when you read the actual law,” and apply it to what happened, it can be different, said Duenas, a public-school teacher.
Asked about her tweets, Duenas said: “We were pretty disgusted. It was pretty embarrassing to watch her testify. She was trying to explain away these tweets. … She would have become a better character to me if she would have been like, ‘You know what, I messed up. I said those things. It was stupid. “
Knott’s sentencing will take place on February 8th. 2016.
