"All three defendants steadfastly maintain their innocence."

Philip R. Williams, Kathryn G. Knott and Kevin J. Harrigan—the three people accused of gay-bashing two men in Center City last fall–appeared in court this afternoon for a “pretrial bring back,” where they checked the status of their case and surveyed preparations for their upcoming criminal trial. More from the Bucks County Courier:

All of the discovery in the case is now complete. Discovery is a phase of trial that allows parties on either side to request evidence and documents from the opposing party before the matter proceeds to trial.

The next step, said Louis Busico, laywer for Knott, will likely be a hearing set for April 16, during which the defense intends to introduce a motion to quash charges against the three on the grounds that not enough evidence was presented to prosecute them at a December preliminary hearing. The three are charged with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy and related offenses.

“All three defendants steadfastly maintain their innocence,” said Busico.