Dog-Maul Death Couple Seeks New Trial

June 7 -- Lawyers for the San Francisco woman awaiting sentencing for murder in the dog-mauling death of her neighbor asked for a new trial today, arguing that the verdict was improper.

Marjorie Knoller, 46, was expected to be sentenced today, but San Francisco Superior Court Judge James L. Warren said he did not want to rush his ruling on the defense motion for a new trial and would continue hearing arguments on Monday, June 17. He will not sentence Knoller and her husband Robert Noel until after he rules on the motion.

Knoller faces 15 years to life in prison for her second-degree murder conviction in the death of Diane Whipple, who was ripped to pieces by Knoller's giant dogs outside her apartment.

Both Knoller and Noel were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and owning a mischievous animal that caused a death.

Attorneys for both Knoller and Noel argued today that prosecutors failed to prove the malice implied in both murder and manslaughter charges. There was no evidence, the lawyers argued, that they trained their dogs to harm human beings. Whipple's fatal mauling was an accident, they said.

"Good people kill people, accidentally," Marjorie Knoller's lawyer Dennis Riordan told Warren.

Noel, 60, did not face a second-degree murder charge because he was not present at the time of the Jan. 26, 2001, attack. He faces up to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter when sentenced today. Ownership of a mischievous animal carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

Prosecutors have said they will ask Warren to impose the maximum sentences for each charge. Prosecutor Jim Hammer said he was confident the judge would reject the defense's motion for a new trial.

Alleged Incompetence

In court papers filed before today's hearing, attorneys argued that the clashes between Warren and Knoller's trial attorney, Nedra Ruiz, compromised the defendant's right to a fair trial and showed that she did not receive competent legal representation. Warren, they maintained, restricted Knoller's right to a fair trial by constantly reprimanding Ruiz and preventing her from presenting her case.