Gay-Bashing Suspects Will Face Full Charges at Trial

Philip R. Williams, Kathryn G. Knott and Kevin J. Harrigan — the three people accused of beating two gay men in Center City last fall – reappeared in court this afternoon, where Judge Frank Palumbo denied their motion to quash two of the felony charges against them.

Lawyer for suspect Kevin Harrigan, Josh Scarpello, tells me the defense asked the judge to dismiss the aggravated assault and conspiracy charges against the suspects on grounds that not enough evidence was presented to prosecute them at the preliminary hearing in December. “We were trying to get the charges reduced and have the two felony charges thrown out,” he says. “If that had happened, it would have meant the case would go forward to a trial on the lesser charges that carry lesser penalties. But the judge did not find it in our favor.”

The suspects will return for a pretrial “bring back” on May 21st, where they will check the status of the case and determine how preparations are going for the upcoming criminal trial, which Scarpello says won’t happen for months to come.

Williams (24), Harrigan (26) and Knott (24) are charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault, two counts of recklessly endangering another person (REAP), and one count of criminal conspiracy.