Jury mulling evidence in dog mauling case

LOS ANGELES - The dog-mauling trial that began with a defense attorney crawling on the courtroom floor during her opening statement neared its end with a judge threatening to lock her up if she didn&#39;t sit down and keep quiet. <br> <br> Jurors began deliberating the case on Tuesday following a stormy closing rebuttal by the prosecution during which Nedra Ruiz was rebuked for her interruption. <br> <br> ``Take your seat now and do not get up again or your next objection will be made from the holding cell behind you,&#39;&#39; Superior Court Judge James L. Warren warned.<br> <br> Ruiz represents Marjorie Knoller, who is charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and owning a mischievous dog that killed a person. She was walking her two huge presa canario dogs when they mauled neighbor Diane Whipple to death in January of 2000. <br> <br> Knoller, 46, could get 15 years to life in prison if convicted. Her 60-year-old husband, Robert Noel, faces involuntary manslaughter and keeping a mischievous dog that killed a person and could get up to four years. <br> <br> Ruiz had tried to argue that prosecutor Jim Hammer was misinterpreting a piece of evidence when the courtroom fireworks erupted. The judge said Hammer was entitled to give his own interpretation. <br> <br> Warren had also rebuked Ruiz at the beginning of the trial for crawling on the floor during her opening statement.<br> <br> Hammer told the jury it was clear the defendants ignored repeated warnings that their dogs, Bane and Hera, were dangerous. <br> <br> He also criticized Ruiz for accusing Whipple&#39;s domestic partner, Sharon Smith, of lying on the witness stand when she said Whipple had been bitten by one of the dogs before and was afraid of them. <br> <br> Hammer declined to respond to another of Ruiz&#39;s statements during her closing argument on Monday, that the prosecution was trying to curry favor with the San Francisco homosexual community by bringing the case. Whipple was gay. <br> <br> The case was moved from San Francisco because of pretrial publicity.<br> <br> ``There was a drumbeat for prosecution in this case by the gay community,&#39;&#39; Ruiz said outside court Tuesday. She accused the judge of responding to it with an ``outrageous bail&#39;&#39; of $2 million for each defendant. <br> <br> ``Judge Warren caved in to political pressure,&#39;&#39; Ruiz said.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/3/202776