AP-PA--Pennsylvania News Digest, PA

Phoenix hits 90 degrees; earliest in state's history

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A defense attorney is asking a judge to reconsider a five- to 10-month jail sentence imposed on a suburban police chief's daughter in a group attack on a gay couple that prompted Philadelphia to add sexual orientation to its hate crime laws. Attorney William Brennan called the sentence imposed on 25-year-old Kathryn Knott "excessive" and said it was "the result of public opinion" and not the actual defendant or her crime. Brennan asked for probation and suggested that Knott could do a public service announcement "explaining what she has learned about tolerance over the last year." Jurors convicted Knott of simple assault and three other misdemeanors in the September 2014 attack, which occurred as she and her friends from suburban Bucks County were celebrating a birthday in downtown Philadelphia.

Judge asked to reconsider sentence in attack on gay couple