Judge rips Knoller as she sends her to prison for dog-mauling death

[Tiberius]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

SAN FRANCISCO -- A judge denounced Marjorie Knoller today for indifference to the fate of a neighbor who was mauled to death by Knoller's dogs in a San Francisco apartment hallway and sentenced the former attorney to 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder.

Superior Court Judge Charlotte Woolard, who had reinstated a jury's murder verdict for the January 2001 attack at a hearing last month, rejected a defense lawyer's request for probation today and said the horrific circumstances of the crime far outweighed Knoller's previous crime-free record.

Woolard said Knoller had not bothered to put a muzzle on her aggressive 140-pound dog before taking him out of the apartment and did not call for help, retrieve a weapon or dial 911 while the animal was mauling Diane Whipple for at least 10 minutes.

Knoller "left Ms. Whipple in the hallway to die alone," the judge said. She said Knoller lied repeatedly in grand jury and trial testimony, has never expressed remorse, and "blamed the victim" in a television interview after the attack.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/22/BA9K132L18.DTL

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I am glad to finally see at least some justice in this case. Knoller is a heartless monster, and frankly deserving of life.

[bluestateguy]

1. She never showed any remorse

He sentence might have been reduced if she had taken some responsibility. Instead, what we got was a lot of excuses and legalistic mumbo jumbo.

[Elidor]

2. I've always wondered what she did during those ten minutes

Did she just stand there and watch? I vaguely recall her telling Whipple to lie still if she knew what was good for her. What a monster.

[hlthe2b]

5. Me too.. That is what is so very unforgiveable....

She'll come out of jail no more a human than she is today (given I doubt she holds the capacity for conscience or human emotion), but at least there is some sense of justice.

[L0oniX]

3. About time people start paying for what their dogs do.

[hlthe2b]

4. This woman is a sociopath; the dogs were trained for killing.

Don't cast this on the millions upon millions of dog owners. That is like saying everyone who has ever had a beer or glass or wine (and likewise has a driver's license) is destined to be a murderous drunk driver.

This woman is evil. The dogs were abused by humans who bred them to be killers and by those who trained them to meet that potential. Your much wider and very unfair implication is obnoxious,intolerant, and just plain stupid.

[Berry Cool]

8. I fail to see what is wrong in saying an evil woman should have to pay for what her dogs do.

If she is a sociopath and allowed her dogs to be abused by breeding them to be killers, and stood by and allowed them to kill someone, and someone says it's right for people like her to have to pay for what their dogs do, how is that a "much wider and very unfair" implication?

The way I see it, the dogs were done a disservice as well by being trained to kill anything or anyone that they perceived to be threatening. Their fates were sealed the second they actually killed someone, because of course dogs that kill are not permitted to live. She was just as cruel to her animals as she was to the woman who was killed by them, in that sense.

There is something wrong when someone deliberately owns a dog bred to kill, or buys and then has a dog trained to kill, anything or anyone it perceives as a threat, even when there is no threat--and idly stands by when it happens, and implies the victim is to blame.

[hlthe2b]

11. What you Said: "about time people start paying for what their

dogs do," which seemingly implies a much broader context than this case, as though most dog-owners were nearly as irresponsible or worse.

We are in agreement on this case, for sure. Thank you for clarifying.

[norepubsin08]

6. Betha she's a Republican

[LiberalFighter]

7. Does she lose her law license?

[OnionPatch]

9. Wow, it took this long?

I thought that pathetic excuse for a human being would have already been in prison for life.

[9thkvius]

10. Also remember the context of it all

1) These dogs belonged to imprisoned clients of Marjorie Knoller. Clients who belonged to the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent racist gang, and one of whom had been legally adopted by Knoller and her husband. Supposedly even her relatives could not understand why she and her husband would legally adopt a racist 39 year old criminal with a long history of violence and who was in prison for life, but they did.

2) She knew the dogs were dangerous. These animals had a history of being aggressive against people. The dogs if memory serves, were part of a criminal scheme by the guys mentioned above to breed and train dogs for drug gangs.

3) She blamed the victim for the attack, provoked the district attorney in front of the media and the public, and did other things that were unflattering and unsympathetic, to put it mildly, such as insisting on their own innocence and defending the behavior of the dogs.

4) Through it all, neither Knoller nor her husband really showed much regret or remorse.

5) Many people in the case, including the jurors apparently, believed that Knoller had repeatedly fabricated testimony.

I am a dog lover, and yet I still understand the implications of owning a dog prone to violence. There was a pit bull in my neighborhood who was put down because it had killed a kitten and mauled a dachshund that belonged to one of my neighbors. I myself own a dachshund, as well as a litter-mate of the kitten that was killed. I hate to see an animal put down, but if an owner can't be responsible and yet insists on not controlling the animal (the pit-bull was allowed to roam free around the neighborhood, in complete violation of local laws) then it becomes necessary when that animals does harm.

[susanna]

12. My last girl, an Akita mix, was prone to aggressiveness, but only after an incident...

It started with her with an unprovoked dog attack in my neighborhood. Get this: we were out walking my then girl Akita-mix pup (about 7 months) when a neighbor's two-year-old dog (pit bull mix) jumped its fence and attacked her from a blind side (the dog went straight through me and my husband, who was holding my dog's leash - it happened so fast we had no chance to respond). My dog didn't back down; in fact, she fought with full power. Then, the owner of the other dog ran screaming outside and accused us of having an aggressive animal. I responded: "your dog jumped your fence and attacked mine on a public sidewalk. The way I see it, my dog was simply defending herself."

Fast forward over the next eleven years; my dog, after that puppyhood attack, suddenly became hypervigilant around other dogs and never let her guard down. We had to watch her every minute of every day to ensure that she didn't pre-emptively attack. She ended up a 100-lb. dynamo. In a nutshell: a latent tendency in my dog (fight vs. flight - and my girl chose "fight," at around the time that all her neural pathways were being constructed) was exacerbated by owners who couldn't control their own animal.

I loved my dog every instant of her life. She never attacked another dog in in her remaining years, but only because my husband and I knew that we needed to constrain her in every way possible after that. It was obvious. If that attack hadn't happened, it may have been a much different story; i.e., a well-adjusted dog who got along and was fully socialized. Up to that point, she had been quite happy-go-lucky and friendly.

People who do not understand dogs and what they are capable of need to be made an example of, IMHO. So I have no problem with her sentence. None whatsoever.

on edit: clarification

[Hekate]

13. Justice at last for that monstrous woman. I hope she's in prison for the rest of her days. nt

[Book Lover]

14. RIP Diane Whipple

I hope this gives Ms Whipple's partner some comfort.

[proud patriot]

15. I agree with this verdict

it was a horrible crime not to help her and muzzle the dog in public.

[mackerel]

16. I can't believe it's taken this long for her to be sentenced.

[proud patriot]

17. she was a lawyer EDITED to Welcome You Underground

I'm sure she gamed the justice system with
stalling tactics .

Our justice system isn't perfect , but it's the best
one as far as I can tell .

I know this won't stop the suffering of the friends and family of Whipple , but I hope it helps a bit .