After being found guilty of simple assault, conspiracy and reckless endangerment for beating two innocent gay men, Kathryn Knott and her attorneys are tying just about anything to save the 25-year-old Jack Daniel’s aficionado from going to jail. Now, they’re hoping one of the trial’s jurors will help them.
Ari Duenas was Juror No. 4 in Knott’s trial. He’s a public school physical education teacher and army vet who loves soccer, mixed martial arts, and Reddit.
Related: BREAKING: Kathryn Knott Found Guilty In Philly Gay Bashing Trial
“I’m a Redditer, so I’m always on there anyway,” Duenas told the press shortly after court adjourned on Friday. “There were a lot of comments on there about the trial, some of them were kind of crazy.”
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Duenas’ Reddit username is nedthedragonslayer. He has has left more than 8,000 comments on the social media site. Shortly after the trial, he created a thread titled “I was juror #4 on the Kathryn Knott trial, AMA!” in which he talked openly about what went on inside the courtroom.
In the thread, which has since been deleted, Duenas claimed that many of the jurors got very emotional during deliberations and often yelled at one another. He also claimed they didn’t convict Knott of the most serious charge, aggravated assault, because they felt bad for her. According to Duenas, one juror said: “I don’t care if she did it, I don’t feel right sending her to jail.”
Now, Knott’s legal team is trying to use Duenas’ comments to the media and his Reddit thread to convince the judge to declare a mistrial. They’re arguing that the 33-year-old juror may have violated the court’s instructions to stay away from media reports until after an official verdict was reached.
Lead attorney, Louis Busico, admitted it would be a “tough row to hoe” to win a mistrial appeal, but he says his team is still looking into it, as well as other possible tactics.
According to Duenas, someone from Busico’s team messaged him on Facebook to see if he’d cooperate with them, but he found the message “creepy” and said he “wasn’t comfortable” with it. He also denies looking at any media reports during the trial.
“I wanted to go into it fresh,” he said. “If I read an article online, or something, then I got something in my head that I couldn’t get out, that wouldn’t be fair. I’d be wasting taxpayer money.”
Knott is scheduled to be sentenced on February 8.
Related: Brutal Gay Bashing Suspect Kathryn Knott Has Been Terminated From Her Job
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
If you’re a gay person and you’re on trial for anything — victim or not — it’s going to be tough for you to win a case.
Xzamilio
*Mistrial
“Lead attorney, Louis Busico, admitted it would be a ‘tough row to hoe’ to win a mistrial appeal, but he says his team is still looking into it, as well as other possible tactics.”
Too bad the tough hoe that had the jurors in a row. But honestly, it’s not surprising she got a slap on the wrist, after the other gentlemen were pretty much hand carried all the way to sentencing. Probation… pfft.
1EqualityUSA
An alternate juror could substitute this one.
And if one of them said, “I don’t care if she did it” then that is a perfect example of favoritism. Not right.
This juror #4 ought to have his head examined.
Peter Waldran
Yeah, because you wouldn’t want justice to be based on facts and evidence or anything like that.
Paul Ditz
Jurors are free to talk about the case after their verdict. I see no misconduct here.
Giancarlo85
I wish I was on that jury. I would remind people they have a duty to uphold the law and not let their personal feelings get in the way of rendering a judgment. A mistrial? That could backfire as I am sure the prosecutor would pursue it again.
WilV
“I don’t care if she did it, I don’t feel right sending her to jail.” Really?!? That’s justice for you!
Wil Cohen
â??I donâ??t care if she did it, I donâ??t feel right sending her to jail.â? Really?!? That’s fucking justice for you!
Philip Epstein
They felt bad for her!!!! If she was black or Hispanic she’d be in jail please this is bullshit.
Giancarlo85
@Paul Ditz: They are free to talk, but if it reveals misconduct during the trial, there could be a serious problem. Oh and I believe the case would still be on active status.
William Meyer
Maybe they’ll give you an editor.
rand503
If he tweeted before the conclusion of the trial or participated in any social media about this case, he is in trouble. That is a direct order from the judge. After the verdict, though, he is free to talk about the case.
However, if there was misconduct by a juror revealed, that’s a problem. But misconduct is a high bar. It has to be that the juror refused to consider the evidence, or was bribed, or something.
Sidney DaviesWinter
They wouldn’t feel bad for her if she was a different race. They’re only going easy on her because she is white. What a bunch of bullshit. She deserves to be in jail for a long time.
Karma will get you, bitch.
Andrew Harvey
Bitch was there. If she didn’t do it and didn’t get the police to stop it then she deserves to go to jail.
Will Glitzern
What’s done is done. No more Fireball for her.
Juanjo
Interesting tactic by the defense. I have been an attorney for over 33 years and a defense attorney for just over 27 years. If this witness is correct then some members of the jury were biased in the woman’s favor and yet they still agreed she should be convicted of something. Essentially she is getting a slap on the wrist which given the possible sanctions is a win by any defense attorney’s standards.
A mistrial means the state can retry this case. A new jury might not be so willing to go lenient on her.
Josh Hutto
What’s a mistrail? Is that someone who took the wrong trail?
Hussain-TheCanadian
I wish we didn’t have a jury system in North America; I know the reason why we have it and I understand the rational but I prefer the three judge panel.
Lawyers will have a less of chance to weasel their clients out of the hand of social justice and retribution.
davenbill
@Juanjo: If it goes to a mistrial I hope the jury crucifies her this time. Wasn’t this a criminal trial? Will there be a civil trial to recoup medical bills, lost wages, etc, as well as pain & suffering and punitive damages?
DuMaurier
This “I don’t feel right sending her to jail” thing reminds me of the long-ago (Hollywood Madam) Heidi Fleiss trial. She was acquitted of the drug charges and convicted on the prostitution (“pandering”) counts because the jury didn’t want to send her to prison and they thought the drug thing was the one that would do that, but prostitution was no big deal. They were surprised and quite indignant when they found out after the verdict that prostitution was actually the big charge, the one that carried serious time in the pokey.
Captain Obvious
White, blonde, America. If you’re surprised by any of this then you’ve had your head in the sand. Welcome to what everyone has been saying since the civil rights era.
alphacentauri
What a silly idiot or a juror. They should have replaced him with the substitute juror instead.
alphacentauri
Haha he deleted his reddit account.
JerseyMike
@Captain Obvious: Since the Civil rights?.. Shit we been saying this since they brought us here. You let that had been a black or Hispanic woman. GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS.. This is Amerikkka. White gay males now here this.. you will not get any justice if the defendant is white. Sorry, white trumps your gayness.
captainburrito
Is it wise for them to go for a mistrial? This jury let her off easy with the assault. The next one might not be so biased and get her on that too.
joeyty
@Captain Obvious: Except if you’re O.J.
Shaun Adams
if i saw her walking the street, id run her down
Iain Elkington
*mistrial
DarkZephyr
@Captain Obvious: You are absolutely correct, seems to be the case since they let her get away with the more serious charges because they “felt bad for her” and “didn’t feel right” about sending her to jail. F***ing ridiculous.
Stephen Meeks
Hmmm, if it was declared a mistrial, maybe the next jury wouldn’t feel sorry for her, and would send her to jail.
martinbakman
@Philip Epstein: Exactly, but I was worried about this outcome even back when all 3 were first charged. Trying to get a judge and jury that don’t identify with these “good Catholic kids” is reality.
joeyty
@martinbakman: You can’t be serious. What if the judge and jurors were Protestant ? (Yes, even in Philadelphia it can happen).
joeyty
@Philip Epstein: What if the judge and jurors were as Catholic as a Hispanic defendent ?
joeyty
@DarkZephyr: What about the African-American jurors ? You’re saying they never feel bad for other AAs
? Only for….white defendents ?
trell
It does seem strange; Duenas posted those Reddit comments AFTER she was convicted. That’s not a breach of court & he openly states that he did not read any report & was not influenced by the media.
Yet Busico has also announced publicly what his team are trying to do, and what they are going to try to exploit, and even seemingly making admissions that it is unlikely that they get any result.
Seems like at the end of the day, it’s a case of ‘All problems will go away if you’re white, privileged, & daddy throws enough money at the problem’. Another pathetic “Affluenza” case, where the impact on the victims has been forgotten, and actual justice is left in the dirt in exchange for pity & sympathy for the poor little rich white girl.
joeyty
@trell: What state/city are you from, that you consider Knott affluent?
Giancarlo85
@joeyty: What if, what if. What if. Can you actually discuss the subject at hand?
@joeyty: Her daddy has significant influence with the legal system. End of story.
Giancarlo85
Here is a rarely used solution. A judge has the authority at sentencing to set aside a plea agreement or deal and sentence her as he sees fit in the scope of the charges. Judges hardly ever use this option, but if I was the Judge I would declare that the sentence was inadequate.
joeyty
@Giancarlo85: I am discussing it. My first question is to the post stating she’d get a light sentence because she’s Catholic. In a Protestant country??? I asked. That’s discussing it. And……I personally would have liked to see her do some time, but what makes everybody here insist it wasn’t a fair trial ? something against Philadelphia jurors ?
1EqualityUSA
joety, My blood boiled a bit when juror #4 said that one of the jurors cried as she stated that she doesn’t care if Knott did it and expressing reluctance to send the woman to jail. The jurors were told to stay silent until the punishment was hashed out. I’m not sure what to think about something like this. Juror #4 wrote what happened in the jury sessions, behind closed doors. I wonder if he could have gone to the judge immediately and tell the judge that this other juror said this. They may have swapped her out, then and there.
joeyty
@1EqualityUSA: Yes, you do make some fair points. But, still..
Captain Obvious
@joeyty: OJ was rich and extremely high profile. Most black people don’t even have a lawyer on retainer let alone a legal team. He really has nothing to do with the discussion. He’s not the norm, not even representing 10% of black Americans.
Black and Hispanic people more often than anyone else in America get double or triple the penalty for the same crimes committed by white people. A white person as in this case may not even see a night in jail while a black or Hispanic person could face life in prison for the exact same crime.
People tell us to shut up and get over it or act like it isn’t happening when the facts and documentation have all been presented.
At the end of the day it puts us all in danger because people like this girl realize they are free to do whatever they want. She got away with this. That sends a message to everyone like her. This is why people should’ve stepped up and said something when they had a chance.
I’ve seen people practically praising white serial killers and monsters like Hitler but will rant and rave about “the blacks” all day long over petty theft in the same breath. There’s a huge problem with “race” in America and it’s only going to get worse the more people sit silently ignoring it.
You can’t even go see a new movie anymore without wondering if it might be targeted for a shooting.