Alleged gay bashers back in court

The trio accused of attacking a gay couple this fall were back in court Thursday.

Kathryn Knott, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams appeared at the Criminal Justice Center for a pre-trial conference.

The largely administrative hearing resulted in all three being scheduled for a pretrial bring back 9 a.m. March 12 before Common Pleas Judge Frank Palumbo. The proceeding was initially scheduled before Senior Judge Harold M. Kane but was moved.

“Today was just a status of discovery,” explained assistant district attorney Michael Barry. “They take a couple listings to make sure everybody have the same paperwork. We still have to pass a few more videos that weren’t copied but nothing major, so it got another date.”

Knott, Harrigan and Williams face aggravated and simple assault, conspiracy and reckless endangerment charges in connected with the Sept. 11 attack on Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught.

At a pretrial bring back, a defendant will usually accept a plea deal or be scheduled for trial. 

Barry said that there “have been no plea discussions” at this time. 

Once the discovery period is finished, Barry said, the case will be assigned to a trial room, where attorneys will decide on a trial date. 

 

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