PHILADELPHIA: Convicted Gay Basher Kathryn Knott Claims Self-Defense In Civil Suit Brought By Her Victims

The Philadelphia Gay News reports:

Like her two co-defendants, Kathryn Knott is contending she acted in self-defense during a high-profile attack on a gay couple in Center City. Knott made the claim in a June 23 court filing in a civil case brought by plaintiffs Andrew Haught and Zachary Hesse, who are seeking at least $500,000 in damages.

The couple is also suing Phillip Williams and Kevin Harrigan for the September 2014 attack at 16th and Chancellor streets; witnesses said the trio used antigay slurs during the incident, which began as a verbal altercation and escalated to a physical attack that left Haught with extensive facial fractures.

In last month’s filing, Wayne Maynard, an attorney for Knott, wrote that she “asserts the affirmative defense of self-defense, and to the extent plaintiffs sustained the injuries and damages as alleged in plaintiffs’ complaint, said injuries and/or damages were sustained while [Knott] was in the process of defending herself from the real and perceived threat of bodily injury arising from the actions of plaintiffs and their friends.” Both Williams and Harrigan raised the self-defense claim in their own filing last year.

The above-linked story notes that while Knott claims to have feared the plaintiffs and “their friends,” her victims were in fact alone during the attack.

A settlement conference in the case is scheduled for September. If none is reached, a jury trial will begin in December.

Knott served five months in jail last year after refusing a plea bargain deal in which her co-defendants escaped the lock-up. My many reports on the attack can be found here. (Tipped by JMG reader Kevin)