Defense to begin in dog mauling case

LOS ANGELES - A couple on trial for the fatal mauling of a neighbor were shocked to learn their dogs were capable of killing, their lawyer said after prosecutors wrapped up their case by inundating jurors with more gory pictures of the victim. <br> <br> ``Before this incident, these dogs were pets,&#39;&#39; attorney Nedra Ruiz told reporters. ``After, it was hard for them to believe these dogs became killers.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Jurors were to begin hearing from defense witnesses Tuesday in the trial of Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel after listening to 39 prosecution witnesses and seeing an array of bloody pictures of the victim.<br> <br> Ruiz said dozens of defense witnesses would paint a benign picture of the defendants and their dogs, describing the couple strolling the streets of San Francisco with the two huge Presa Canarios without incident. <br> <br> In attempting to have the case dismissed after the prosecution rested Monday, Ruiz said Knoller, who was walking the dogs before the fatal attack, acted heroically in trying to save 33-year-old Diane Whipple&#39;s life. <br> <br> Assistant District Attorney Jim Hammer said that wasn&#39;t true. <br> <br> ``Ms. Knoller is a liar, not a hero,&#39;&#39; he told the judge. ``To leave a woman to die alone in a hall, naked, while she&#39;s crawling to get home, is the coldest act I can imagine and is evidence of her cold, depraved heart.&#34;<br> <br> Superior Court Judge James Warren ruled there was ample evidence to continue with the trial. <br> <br> Knoller is charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and having a mischievous dog that killed a person. Her husband faces the latter two charges in the death of Whipple, a college lacrosse coach who was attacked as she tried to enter her San Francisco apartment on Jan. 26, 2001. The case was moved to Los Angeles because of pretrial publicity. <br> <br> On Monday, jurors saw 35 pictures of Whipple&#39;s naked, blood-streaked body, mounted on boards around the courtroom. More photos were blown up on a huge movie screen as the San Francisco medical examiner described in excruciating detail all 77 of the victim&#39;s wounds. Her crushed larynx was displayed at one point and the witness, Dr. Boyd Stephens, said the injury was similar to what a wild animal inflicts on its prey. <br> <br> ``A lion or a leopard - they go for the throat,&#39;&#39; he said. ``They&#39;re cutting off the air supply and they hold on until the animal asphyxiates.&#34;<br> <br> Stephens said all surfaces of Whipple&#39;s body except the soles of her feet and the top of her head were covered with wounds. He said the damage to Whipple&#39;s larynx, combined with loss of more than a third of her blood made it unlikely that medical intervention could have saved her. <br> <br> The prosecution&#39;s case included 30 witnesses who told of terrifying encounters with the two big dogs, Bane and Hera, that Knoller and Noel kept in their apartment. <br> <br> Ruiz said the defense will call some 30 witnesses to tell jurors about positive encounters with the dogs and said her clients were not to blame. <br> <br> ``Marjorie and Robert did not do this to Ms. Whipple; a dog did,&#39;&#39; Ruiz said. ``They were not responsible for what the dog did.&#34;