Three charged in assault on gay couple in Center City Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news

[brooklynite]

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has approved arrest warrants for two men and a woman in an assault in Center City that sent a gay couple to the hospital earlier this month.

The three, all from Bucks County, will be each charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, and one count of criminal conspiracy, the District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The office identified those to be charged as Philip Williams, 24; Kevin Harrigan, 26; and Katherine Knott, 24.

Police have said the gay couple was assaulted by a group near Rittenhouse Square on Sept. 11. Both men were sent to the hospital after the incident, and one had his jaw wired shut. Police said the group made disparaging remarks about the men's sexual orientation.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140924_Three_charged_in_assault_on_gay_couple_in_Center_City.html

[Politicalboi]

1. Where's the hate crime charge

Oh

Several legislators and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey have called for an expansion of the state's current hate-crimes statute to include crimes motivated by sexual orientation.

I see they haven't moved into the 21st century yet.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. I'm not a big fan of hate crimes charges. Assault is assault.

[malthaussen]

4. I agree there.

They're also rather illogical. "Passion" has traditionally been seen as an extenuating circumstance for a crime, rather than something that makes it worse. Whether or not one agrees with that principle, it is opaque to me why assaulting someone for his wallet is somehow different from assauting someone because you hate his "type."

-- Mal

[Salviati]

6. I think that there is a place for them...

Because when a thief assaults someone for their wallet, the victim is primarily just the one who is assaulted. Sure, society at large is harmed by the crime, but that's not the intent of the robbery. When people are attacked for their sexual orientation, race, or any other distinguishing characteristic, the victims are not only those who are directly affected, but their whole community, and that is generally the effect of such attacks - to put "them" in "their place".

[malthaussen]

7. Well, there is something to that.

However, the reality is that hate crimes are not just an affront to the specific community, but to all of us as a society, in just the same manner as the wallet-stealing is also an affront to all of society. Now, if we grant that the intent of the wallet-stealing is not to attack the community per se, we also have to grant that neither is the hate crime. However, you can retort that the intent of the hate crime is to be injurious to some part of the society as a whole, so that a difference in degree applies.

What I find problematic is the isolation of the issue from society as a whole, that an attack on a gay person, for example, is a greater affront to the gay community than it is to all of us. It seems to perpetuate the "difference," rather than acknowledging the inclusiveness. And in a weird sense, it seems to validate the hatred. If I treat your assault as a common assault, no different from any other, than I am in effect telling you that your attempt to create a special circumstance has failed. And your hope to be viewed as a martyr/hero also loses momentum, because you are not being treated differently from any other thug.

-- Mal

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. I'm happy straight folks are all kumbaya with us when one of gets the shit kicked out them.

But let's be honest. It's not "society" that stays home, or takes a cab on a nice walkable night, or opts to not hold hands with their loved one when gay bashers are out and about in "society"

[rocktivity]

8. The difference is degree of intent -- just like with homicide

Last edited Sun Mar 10, 2019, 04:41 PM - Edit history (1)

where intent can range from premeditated to assault with intent to kill to no intent at all. I'd like to see it added to the assault charge the way some states will hit you with an extra five to ten years for using or even just carrying a gun in a crime.


rocktivity

[FLPanhandle]

3. Only 3 of them?

The initial article made it sound like it was the entire group or like 8-9 of them.

I wonder if some deals were struck to get testimony against the worst offenders or were only 3 involved?

[malthaussen]

5. I also wonder why no assault charges.

"Reckless endangerment" and "conspiracy?" They beat the crap out of them, that goes 'way beyond "endangerment."

Surely that's not the jingle of coin -- or other influence -- I hear in the background?

-- Mal

[rocktivity]

9. I'm wondering why no BATTERY charges

If one of them ended up with a wired jaw, some of those blows must have landed...unless it's part of a plea deal to be...


rocktivity

[malthaussen]

12. Yeah, I'm smelling dead flounders all over.

It's amazing to me how so many crimes are caught on video and yet, somehow, are never prosecuted or the evidence is held to not be conclusive.

-- Mal

[hack89]

18. The OP says they were charged with aggravated assault and simple assault. nt

[malthaussen]

19. Must have been an edit.

Those charges weren't mentioned in the original OP.

-- Mal

[rocktivity]

10. Well it was reported earlier that several turned themselves in

armed with lawyers, no doubt -- so there has probably been a whole lot snitching in return for lighter sentences going on!


rocktivity

[Ex Lurker]

11. I expect that is the case NT

[fbc]

13. May be tough for those charges to stick if the victim assaulted a woman in the group first

Still, the viciousness of the beating should earn them some time behind bars

[m-lekktor]

15. I never heard about that.

I will have to google the story.

on edit: i see it was mentioned in this piece. i posted before i read unfortunately.

[secondwind]

14. K&R I hope there will be more arrests

[closeupready]

17. The plot thickens.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Three suburban Philadelphia defendants being charged in the beating of a gay couple during a late-night encounter on a city street have turned themselves in.

Police said 24-year-old Philip Williams, 24-year-old Kathryn Knott and 26-year-old Kevin Harrigan turned themselves in Wednesday morning. Prosecutors said they were being charged with criminal conspiracy and two counts each of aggravated and simple assault, and reckless endangerment.

The victims told police that a group hurled gay slurs and beat them when the two parties passed on the street on Sept. 11. One man suffered serious facial injuries, including an orbital fracture, and had his jaw wired.
---------------
Knott's attorney, Louis Busico, has also denied that the dispute was motivated by anti-gay bias and said his client, whose family has a law enforcement background, neither threw any punches nor hurled any insults.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/philadelphia-gay-beating-case-defendants-_n_5873264.html

[rocktivity]

20. Lionel Hutz lives!

Last edited Thu Sep 25, 2014, 02:40 AM - Edit history (5)

Knott's attorney, Louis Busico, has also denied that the dispute was motivated by anti-gay bias and said his client, whose family has a law enforcement background, neither threw any punches nor hurled any insults.

"She played no role in this other than going out to dinner with friends the night this happened," Busico said outside Central Detectives on Wednesday. "We don't deny that there was a gentleman who was assaulted. We don't deny that this gentleman was injured. But I unequivocally deny that my client did anything to hurt this man; she wouldn't hurt anybody."

Well, I suggest that Ms. Knott get a new lawyer ASAP. If she was there but she didn't do anything, that's called being a WITNESS, not a suspect, and she SHOULDN'T have been charged at all, LOL!

But wait, there's more: Ms. Knott is the daughter of Chalfont PA Police Chief Karl Knott. And someone has collected some of Ms. Knott's 2012-2013 tweets!


rocktivity