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CNN Live At Daybreak

Domestic Partner of Woman Killed By Dogs Testifies in Trial Against Dogs' Owners

Aired March 01, 2002 - 05:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The domestic partner of a woman killed by dogs testified in the California trial against the dogs' owners as CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports. The dead woman had confronted one of the owners before the fatal attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sharon Smith called Diane Whipple her life partner, who was taken away from her.

SHARON SMITH, DOMESTIC PARTNER: I think about her every day.

GUTIERREZ: The couple shared an apartment together in this upscale San Francisco neighborhood.

SMITH: I knew Diane for seven years, and we spent about every minute together in that seven year period.

GUTIERREZ: Sharon Smith took the stand and tearfully described the last day of Diane Whipple's life.

SMITH: She was deeply afraid of those dogs, I mean, terrified of those dogs.

GUTIERREZ: Smith told jurors Whipple asked her to come home early. They had plans to go to a movie together. She testified as she drove up to her building, she saw emergency vehicles and yellow tape. The landlady gave her the news. Smith says she then drove to the hospital, where she saw Diane alive but not conscious. She says she was there when Whipple died.

SMITH: I want to make sure in every possible way that they are held accountable for their actions, for their negligence.

GUTIERREZ: Smith told jurors Whipple was deathly afraid of the Presa Canario dogs that lived down the hall with defendants, Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel. She testified that a month before Whipple was mauled to death, Whipple called her in a panic.

SMITH: Diane was leaving the building, and she was still inside the foyer. Robert Noel was also inside the foyer of the building with one of the dogs. The dog lunged at her and bit her on her left hand.

GUTIERREZ: Smith says Whipple tried to warn Robert Noel.

SMITH: She said him, "I told him you need to control your dog." And I said, What did he do in response? She said, "Nothing." He just stared her.

GUTIERREZ: Smith says after that, Whipple did everything she could to avoid the dogs, but she didn't complain about them. But the prosecution maintains they presented evidence that the defendants had been sufficiently warned in 30 separate incidents.

JIM HAMMER, PROSECUTOR: Of lunges on a pregnant woman, lunge on a small child, people telling him to wear choke collars and muzzles and everything else, any one of which could have saved Diane Whipple's life.

GUTIERREZ: Sharon Smith says the criminal trial will not be the end of it for her former neighbors. She says she has also filed a civil lawsuit against them.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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