The Court of Common Pleas judge who last month sentenced Kathryn Knott to prison time has agreed to hear arguments from her attorney on why she should lighten the sentence.
Judge Roxanne Covington on Tuesday will consider the defense’s request for a resentencing in Knott’s case at 9 a.m. March 14. Knott’s new defense attorney, Bill Brennan, filed the resentencing request 10 days after his client received a prison sentence of five to 10 months in prison. She is currently incarcerated at Riverside Correctional Facility.
The hearing does not mean that Covington will necessarily lighten Knott’s sentence; rather, it will be an opportunity for Brennan to extrapolate on the arguments he made in his resentencing motion and for prosecutors, who had asked Covington to deny the motion without a hearing, to respond.
Brennan told PGN Tuesday that he was eager to outline his ideas for possible penalties other than jail time.
“We’re anxious to have the opportunity to present alternatives to the sentence,” Brennan said.
It is unclear if Knott will be present at the hearing. She has until next week to file a full appeal of her sentence, which would take the case to a higher court.
Knott was convicted in December of simple assault, conspiracy to commit simple assault and two counts of reckless endangerment in connection with the September 2014 attack on gay couple Andrew Haught and Zachary Hesse.
Her co-defendants, Philip Williams and Kevin Harrigan, pleaded guilty last year, but she rejected a plea deal and took her case to trial. Williams and Harrigan are both serving probation and are required to perform community service.
The parity among their sentences serves as part of the basis for the request for reconsideration, Brennan told PGN last month. Brennan’s resentencing request also asks for a sentence that is more focused on rehabilitation, as opposed to punishment, including such elements as community service or Knott’s participation in a public-service campaign against anti-LGBT violence.