Dog Could Not Be Stopped, Owner Says

A sobbing San Francisco lawyer testified Monday that she could not stop her large Presa Canario dog from fatally mauling her neighbor, despite yelling at the dog, jerking his leash and even throwing her body on top of the victim to try to save her.

“He just wouldn’t stop what he was doing,” said Marjorie Knoller, who is on trial for murder in last year’s death of Diane Whipple. “Anything I was trying he wasn’t listening.

“Every time I would think it would be over and I could get him away from her and get him the hell out of there, it would get worse and it would start all over. It got worse and worse and worse.”

Knoller, 46, wearing a periwinkle blazer and with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, spoke clearly and strongly, but broke down in tears several times.

Her defense attorney, Nedra Ruiz, questioned her for nearly five hours. Prosecutors will cross-examine her today. Whipple’s partner of seven years, Sharon Smith, watched Knoller’s testimony from the front row.

Whipple, a 33-year-old lacrosse coach, died Jan. 26, 2001, after being attacked by two dogs as she returned to her San Francisco apartment from getting groceries.

Knoller, who was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and keeping a mischievous dog, faces 15 years to life in prison. Her husband, Robert Noel, was charged with the two lesser counts and faces a sentence of four years.

The dogs, Bane and Hera, have since been destroyed. The trial was moved to Los Angeles because of publicity in the Bay Area.

Defense attorneys have argued that their clients were responsible dog owners and that the attack was unexpected. Prosecutors maintain that Knoller and Noel knew their dogs--each weighing more than 100 pounds--were dangerous and did nothing to prevent the mauling.

Knoller said that on the afternoon of Jan. 26, she had taken Bane for a walk on the roof and was about to enter her apartment when the dog noticed Whipple at the end of the hallway. Bane started pulling Knoller down the hallway toward Whipple, she said, despite her yanking on his leash with all her strength and sternly saying, “Bane, come.”

Bane pulled Knoller off her feet and dragged her face down on the floor down the sixth-floor hallway, she testified, until he reached Whipple and jumped up on her and started tearing at her clothing. “I had never seen him do any of that before,” she said. Hera was nearby, barking hysterically, she said.

The dog would calm down momentarily, but then would react violently any time Whipple tried to move, Knoller said. She said she got on and off Whipple a few times as she attempted to shield her from the attack.

At one point when Knoller was on top of Whipple and telling her, “Stay down, don’t move,” Whipple threw her arm back and hit Knoller in the face, she testified. It was then that Bane bit Whipple in the neck.

Asked by Ruiz why she didn’t call 911, Knoller said she was busy trying to get Bane away from Whipple. “I’m not going to leave and leave Ms. Whipple out there with no one there,” she said.

Knoller said she also was bitten by Bane during the attack.

Prosecutors had presented witnesses who testified that the attorneys were associates of a prison gang and helped run an attack-dog breeding ring.

When asked by Ruiz if she was part of the Aryan Brotherhood gang, Knoller said, “I’m Jewish,” adding that her relatives were “survivors of the Holocaust, so no.”

Knoller told jurors she felt sorry for Whipple and her loved ones.

“Just thinking about the horrible way that Ms. Whipple died in that hallway causes me great, great sorrow, and I’m in pain for everybody who knew her and spent time with her,” she said. “My heart goes to her family and friends that she died such a horrible, horrible death.”

Ruiz presented her client as a hard-working, compassionate attorney who did legal work for the mentally ill, homeless and AIDS patients. Knoller also described her lifelong love of animals, including horses and big dogs such as English mastiffs and Akitas.

“I’m interested in all kinds of dogs, especially large dogs,” Knoller told jurors.

Knoller said she and Noel subscribed to magazines such as Dog World and Dog Fancy and downloaded information from the Internet about Presa Canario dogs. She said she was drawn to Presa Canarios because they were guard dogs, but had a reputation for being sensitive and gentle. Knoller said she kept in mind the history of Presa Canarios as fighting dogs.

“They were protective, they were loyal to their owners, somewhat wary of strangers,” she testified. “You have to be aware of the fact that they may be dog aggressive, but that generally doesn’t translate over to people.”

Knoller said she and her husband frequently walked the dogs to parks and through busy neighborhoods in San Francisco. Knoller said she trained them to respond to basic commands but never trained them to be aggressive.

She acknowledged, however, that Bane was not entirely passive. In September 2000. She said Bane severely bit Noel’s finger as he was trying to break up a fight between Bane and another dog at a beach.

The bite required surgery and four days of hospitalization, she said.

Outside the courtroom, Assistant Dist. Atty. James Hammer said he plans to ask Knoller about statements she made to a San Francisco grand jury and about previous testimony from other witnesses who described the dogs as frightening.

Hammer said the jury will have to decide what Knoller was crying about.

“I don’t know if she was crying for Hera, herself or Diane,” he said.