Murderess by dog beats rap

Knoller, who now faces a four-year maximum term for involuntary manslaughter, will be sentenced on July 15.

Superior Court Judge James Warren also sentenced Knoller's husband, Robert Noel, to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, after denying the couple's request that they be given a new trial on that charge in the death of their neighbor Diane Whipple.

Warren told the couple that they were "the most despised couple in this city," for the attack by their Presa Canario dogs that killed Whipple Jan. 26, 2001, and for their insinuation that Whipple was partly to blame.

But in granting a defense motion for a new trial on the murder charge, Warren concluded that Knoller didn't know there was a high probability that the dogs could kill and that taking one of them out for a walk would lead to Whipple's death -- a prerequisite for a second-degree murder conviction.

Warren said he didn't believe much of Knoller's testimony during the trial in Los Angeles in which a jury convicted her and Noel. But he said he did believe her when she pounded on the table at one point and said, "I had no idea this could happen."

Knoller, 46, could have faced a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison on the murder charge. Instead, she can only be given the maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter and keeping a mischievous dog that kills.

Noel, 60, received the maximum for those two convictions.

(Because Noel gets credit for time already served, he will have to spend a little more than a year in prison, District Attorney Terence Hallinan said.)

The judge said Noel was more culpable than his wife in the death of the 33-year-old Whipple, a lacrosse coach at St. Mary's College, because he had left the dogs with his wife knowing she couldn't handle the 120-pound animals.

Warren likened Noel to a bomber who leaves an explosive in a locker and then flies elsewhere.

Prosecutors said they would ask the judge to reconsider his ruling overturning the March 21 murder conviction against Knoller.

"I was surprised," District Attorney Terence Hallinan said. "I thought this went beyond manslaughter. This was a second-degree murder case. . . . They should have let that murder count stand."

Sharon Smith, Whipple's partner, was teary-eyed as the judge announced his ruling.

When she spoke in court a few minutes later, however, she thanked Warren for the chance to directly address the defendants who "murdered -- murdered," she repeated for emphasis, "my life partner and best friend."

Noel, as he did through much of the trial, scribbled on a notepad, prompting a sharp rebuke from Smith.

"If the despicable Robert Noel can take a second to pay attention, and even though you are pretending to be writing, I know you are listening," Smith said.

Smith castigated the couple for never apologizing to her. "You were too busy being lawyers to be human," she said. "You fail to accept that your actions killed a person.

"It's been one big legal game to you. It was not a game to me. It was not a game to Diane."

Smith was accompanied in court by her attorney, Michael Cardoza, who has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Knoller, Noel and the owners of the Pacific Heights apartment building where the couple and Whipple lived and where the attack happened.

Speaking through tears, Sarah Miller, an assistant coach on Whipple's lacrosse team, told Warren, "I don't understand how a grand jury and a jury down in L.A. that is unbiased say second-degree murder and then you take it away.

"What is the point of having a jury trial?" Miller asked.

In overturning the murder conviction, Warren made clear he wasn't excusing the defendants' "despicable conduct."

"I don't believe anybody likes you," the judge told the couple, who looked up but did not visibly react. "I've received letters saying that the death penalty is appropriate in this case."

He referred to media interviews in which the defendants did not apologize and appeared to blame Whipple in the mauling, saying she wore a perfume that attracted the dogs, engaged in aggressive behavior and could have simply closed her door to stop the mauling.

"They thumbed their nose at everything," the judge said. "There were no tears for Diane Whipple. There was no apology or remorse. There was only excuses and blame."

The ruling was a key victory for the defense, which argued that Knoller cannot legally be convicted of both murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Defense attorneys also said Warren improperly allowed prosecutors to associate Knoller with the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang.


E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee [at] sfchronicle.com.