LOS ANGELES - Rejecting defense arguments that the attack couldn't have been foreseen, jurors returned a murder conviction against a woman whose dogs ripped open a neighbor's throat, killing her in their San Francisco apartment hallway. The woman's husband was convicted of manslaughter.
Marjorie Knoller - believed to be just the third person ever convicted of murder in a U.S. dog-mauling case - fought back tears as jurors announced Thursday that she was guilty on all counts. Behind her, a large group of victim Diane Whipple's friends and her domestic partner, Sharon Smith, began to weep in the courtroom.
``There's no real joy in this but certainly some measure of justice for Diane was done today,'' Smith said later. ``I'm glad to see the jury didn't buy some of the smoke screens that were put in front of them."
Knoller, owner of two huge Presa Canario dogs named Bane and Hera, was convicted of second-degree murder in Whipple's death. She was also found guilty, along with her husband, Robert Noel, of the lesser charges of manslaughter and having a mischievous dog that killed someone.
Each of the lesser charges carries a sentence of up to four years.
Experts said the 120-pound Bane delivered the fatal wounds and prosecutors said Hera tore at Whipple's clothing during the attack. Both dogs were later destroyed.
One legal expert said Thursday's verdict was likely to send a message across the nation.
``This does not mean that every dog mauling case will end up as a murder case,'' said Loyola University Law Professor Laurie Levenson. ``But it does mean if people have prior warning they will have to take it seriously.''
After the verdict, jurors said they thought Knoller, 46, and Noel, 60, had been ``arrogant'' to ignore warnings from more than 30 people that their dogs, each of which weighed more than 100 pounds, were dangerous.
Knoller looked stricken upon hearing the verdict, turning to look at her parents and apparently mouthing the word ``help.''
Her husband showed no reaction to the verdict.
Sentencing was set for May 10 in San Francisco, where the fatal attack on Whipple, a 33-year-old lacrosse coach, occurred last year as she was carrying groceries into her apartment. Knoller was walking the dogs at the time.
The case was moved to Los Angeles because of heavy pretrial publicity.
In all, jurors deliberated for 11 1/2 hours over three days before convicting the couple. They decided the most serious second degree-murder charge last.
``It was a painful decision,'' said Don Newton, 64, foreman of the seven-man, five-woman jury. ``The question of implied malice was a difficult question to decide, but we did decide there was implied malice in her actions.''
He said Noel, who was not present during the attack, nevertheless ``was equally responsible.''
Jurors said Knoller was her own worst witness, unbelievable at every turn in her testimony. They also said Noel, whose letters about the dogs were admitted as evidence, ``doesn't seem to be a very nice person.''
Even so, juror Shawn Antonio, 27, said the panel resisted making a decision based on personalities, carefully weighing the evidence instead.
The jurors, who met with reporters after the verdict, said Knoller's situation was worsened by the behavior of her flamboyant lawyer, Nedra Ruiz.
Ruiz, who was admonished by the judge for interrupting the prosecutor during his closing argument, had crawled on the floor, kicked the jury box and cried during her opening statement.
``She's an amazingly dramatic person,'' Newton said. ``She's an incredible actress and I think to some extent she was counterproductive.''
Levenson, the law professor, gave high marks to the prosecutors, Assistant District Attorneys Jim Hammer and Kimberly Guilfoyle-Newsome. They set out to prove that the husband-and-wife lawyers knew their two powerful Presa Canarios were ``time bombs.''
``We've gotten so used to TV trials we forget how important evidence is and how competently it is presented,'' said Levenson. ``Lawyers sometimes get distracted from their mission. The prosecutors kept their eye on the prize.''
Prosecutors repeatedly showed jurors a TV interview in which the couple disavowed responsibility for Whipple's death and appeared to blame the victim.
``It's not my fault,'' Knoller said in the interview. ``Ms. Whipple had ample opportunity to move into her apartment. She could have just slammed the door shut. I would have.''
Antonio said that had a powerful impact on him and on other jurors.
``There was no kind of sympathy, no kind of apologies,'' he said. ``It helped us a lot.''
The defense lawyers, Ruiz and Bruce Hotchkiss, contended that Knoller and Noel could not have known their animals would kill, and that Knoller tried to save Whipple by throwing herself between her neighbor and the enraged Bane. They also disputed witnesses' accounts of being menaced previously by Bane and Hera.
The Jan. 26, 2001, attack had all the elements of a TV crime drama: a successful member of the city's gay community savagely killed outside her door in exclusive Pacific Heights by an exotic breed of dog known for its ferocity.
The owners were lawyers who specialized in lawsuits on behalf of inmates. They had adopted an inmate, white-supremacist gang member Paul Schneider, who officials said was trying to run a business raising Presa Canarios for use as guard dogs.
The case made legal history even before the trial began when Whipple's partner, Smith, claimed the same right as a spouse to sue for damages. The state Legislature enacted a law to allow such lawsuits by gay partners.
Pretrial hearings were explosive, with the prosecutor alleging at one point that Knoller and Noel practiced bestiality with their dogs. Evidence relating to that claim was barred from the trial.
Still, the trial was graphic. Jurors were shown 77 bloody photos of Whipple's wounds, many of them blown up to wall size on a movie screen. The prosecutors said the 110-pound college lacrosse coach had been bitten everywhere except the top of her head and the soles of her feet.
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March 22nd, 2025
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