Whipple's Friends are Aghast at Effort to Blame Her for Dog Attack
By Ed Walsh

LOS ANGELES -- As the defense takes its turn this week in the San Francisco dog-mauling case, supporters of victim Diane Whipple are still reeling from a defense strategy to blame Whipple's partner, Sharon Smith.

Last week, Nedra Ruiz, the flamboyant lawyer for Marjorie Knoller, who was with her two dogs during the fatal hallway attack on Whipple, implied that Smith bore some responsibility for the mauling because she didn't report an earlier incident in which Whipple was allegedly bitten on the hand by one of the dogs.

Courtroom observers gasped when Ruiz asked Smith in cross examination: ``Do you consider that had you made a complaint, Diane Whipple might be alive today?" Lead prosecutor Jim Hammer immediately objected and the question was set aside. Smith told reporters outside court that she was shocked and offended by the question.

The prosecution concluded its case on Monday, March 4, with the last of its 39 witnesses, San Francisco Medical Examiner Dr. Boyd Stephens.

Prosecutors displayed several gruesome autopsy photographs of Whipple in the course of Stephens' testimony prompting some observers including Whipple's mother, Pamela Whipple-Kelly, to walk out.

Prosecutor Kimberly Guilfoyle-Newsom told reporters outside court that it was necessary to show the photographs to counter Knoller's claim that she heroically put herself between one of her dogs and Whipple during the January 26, 2001 attack. Guilfoyle-Newsom said that if that were the case, Whipple wouldn't have been bitten in virtually every part of her body and Knoller would have been much more seriously injured.

Whipple-Kelly is among several who attend the trial each day. She is assigned a reserved seat in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom that has room for about 40 observers. Knoller's parents are seated directly behind Whipple-Kelly.

Knoller's mother, Harriet Knoller, told Bay Windows outside court that Whipple-Kelly has been very gracious to her and her husband. She added that she felt very sorry for Whipple's death but insisted it wasn't her daughter's fault.

``You should write about how she is being treated in jail," she added explaining that when she visits her daughter in the Los Angeles County jail, she has to talk to her through glass while she remains handcuffed to a pole.

The trial is also being attended by Smith's sister, Janet Batchelder. She told Bay Windows that she plans to attend every day to support her sister and Whipple's memory. Although Smith was allowed observe opening statements, because she is a witness, she was not allowed back in court until her testimony last week.

Noel Packard was one of those who traveled the 400 miles from the Bay Area to watch the trial. Although she didn't know Whipple, she was severely bitten in the mouth by a dog just two weeks after the attack on Whipple. She told Bay Windows that her ``whole life fell apart" just after the attack by her roommate's bulldog. Signs of the bite are still clearly visible on her face. She said she could empathize with the need for justice. Unlike the two dogs involved in the attack on Whipple, the dog that bit her was not ordered euthanized. Packard plans to sue the dog's owner.

Knoller, 46, is being charged with second-degree murder. Her husband, Robert Noel, 60, faces involuntary manslaughter as his most serious charge. Each also faces a charge of keeping a mischievous animal that killed a human being. The trial was moved to Los Angeles because of the extensive pretrial publicity in the Bay Area.

Defense attorneys plan to call more than 30 witnesses who are expected to testify that the couple's two dogs were gentle. They hope to counterbalance a string of prosecution witnesses who've described dangerous close encounters with the dogs. Both Knoller and Noel are expected to take the stand.