Judge Is Considering Springing Kathryn Knott From Jail

Kathryn Knott, the young woman convicted in a brutal 2014 beating of a gay couple, is now serving a sentence of five to 10 months in prison. A judge is now considering a request from her attorneys that she be released from jail.

Common Pleas Court Judge Roxanne Covington will consider the motion March 14, Philly.com reports.

Knott's attorneys have made many arguments for her release -- one being that two men involved in the attack on Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught were given probation and community service instead of jail time. Those assailants, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams, agreed to plea deals, while Knott demanded a trial. She was found guilty in December of four misdemeanor assault and reckless endangerment charges and sentenced in February to five to 10 months of immediate incarceration, a $2,000 fine, anger management classes, and two years probation, which includes a ban on her entering downtown Philadelphia.

William Brennan, one of Knott's attorneys, last month pushed for the option of Knott doing a public service announcement instead of serving jail time, saying she'll "be out in a few months either way." The attorney said Knott "could take the infamy of the arrest and maybe heal some wounds."

On the evening of September 11, 2014, Knott, Harrigan, and Williams were part of a group that encountered Hesse and Haught in Philadelphia's Center City neighborhood. The assailants used antigay slurs against the male couple and beat them, leaving the men bleeding on the sidewalk.