ANIMAL PEOPLE is the
leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage
of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has
no alignment or affiliation with any other entity.
SAN FRANCISCO––The California First District Court of Appeal
on May 5, 2005 reinstated the March 2002 second degree murder conviction
by jury of former San Francisco attorney Marjorie Knoller, 49, for the
January 2001 fatal mauling of neighbor Diane Whipple, after Knoller lost
control of two Presa Canario dogs in the hall of the apartment house where
both lived. The jury also convicted Knoller, and her husband and law partner
Robert Noel, 63, of involuntary manslaughter. Knoller and Noel both drew
four-year prison sentences. Both are now out on parole.
Trial judge James Warren of the San Francisco Superior Court, threw out
the second degree murder conviction. The appellate court said he erred.
“Justice James Lambden, writing for a three-judge panel, said Knoller
knew that the dog who killed Whipple was a ‘frightening and dangerous
animal: huge, untrained, and bred to fight,” summarized Associated
Press legal writer David Kravets.
“The ruling could send Knoller to prison for 15 years to life,”
added San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Bob Egelko––after
all appeal possibilities are exhausted.
Noted Kravets, “On [previous] appeal, both defendants argued that
the prosecution’s portrayal of them as being white supremacist sympathizers
prejudiced the jury, a claim the appeals court rejected.”
Other
dog-related crimes
Robert
Stevens, 64, of Pittsville, Virginia, on April 21, 2005 was sentenced
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania federal court to serve 37 months in prison
for selling videos of dogfights, as the first person convicted under a
1999 law against distributing pornographic depictions of cruelty.
Circuit Judge Charles Graddick of Mobile County, Alabama, on April 21
sentenced Walter Tyrone Ware, 32, to serve six concurrent 20-year sentences
for dogfighting, plus 20 years for illegal possession of steroids, and
six more months for violating probation on a convicton for selling crack
cocaine. Twenty-three pit bull terriers, many of them emaciated and severely
injured, were seized from Ware in December 2003.
