Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
San Francisco Couple Found Guilty On All Counts in Dog's Vicious Killing of 33-Year-Old Woman
Aired March 22, 2002 - 05:02 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: Justice served, that's how Diane Whipple's friends feel this morning. A San Francisco couple has been found guilty on all counts in their dog's vicious killing of a 33- year-old woman.
CNN's Eric Horng has the climax of a month long trial and a 14 month case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury in the above entitled action, find the defendant, Marjorie Noller, guilty of the crime of murder in the second degree.
ERIC HORNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marjorie Noller showed visible emotion as the jury read its guilty verdict on her second degree murder charge, the panel finding Noller and her husband Robert Noel also guilty of involuntary manslaughter and possession of an animal that killed a person.
The verdict comes 14 months after the attack on Diane Whipple, the 33-year-old college lacrosse coach mauled to death in the hallway of her San Francisco apartment building by one, perhaps two, dogs.
Following the verdict, Whipple's domestic partner, Sharon Smith, said justice was done.
SHARON SMITH, WHIPPLE'S DOMESTIC PARTNER: It's been a long 14 months and a lot of that time was spent focusing on this moment. So it's, this is a very emotional moment for me.
HORNG: During the four week trial, the prosecution argued Marjorie Noller and Robert Noel knew the dogs were dangerous, calling more than 30 witnesses who testified to violent encounters with the two 100 plus pound Presacanario (ph) dogs.
DON NEWTON, JURY FOREMAN: She was really uninterested in the consequences of what happened in regard to these dogs and she was not really heeding any of the warnings that had been given.
JAMES HAMMER, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was the right thing to do but it was a tough fight and the jury vindicated it.
HORNG (on camera): Defense attorneys left without comment following the verdict.
Robert Noel now faces up to four years in prison, Marjorie Noller 15 years to life. Sentencing is scheduled for May 10 in San Francisco.
Eric Horng, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Diane Whipple's mother plans to join a civil suit against the owners of the apartment building where the attack occurred. Penny Whipple-Kelly says the dogs' owners tried to blame anyone else but themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENNY WHIPPLE-KELLY, DIANE WHIPPLE'S MOTHER: What incited me so much was the fact that they never said they were sorry, they never claimed any responsibility for any of the dogs' actions. I mean I could see if you had of said oh, you were terribly sorry, this was a tragic accident or something. But they never said that so they knew that it wasn't an accident and I don't think that they cared that much to even do anything to prevent it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Whipple-Kelly says she hopes the verdicts lead to legal reforms.
As for how jurors felt about the defendants in this case, they used words like "fabricated," "contradicted" and "incredible stories" to describe Marjorie Noller's testimony. Still, the foreman says jurors thought long and hard before voting to convict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: From our point of view, the testimony was not believable and it was, that was crucial to our decision in regard to the verdict of second degree murder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Jurors decided there wasn't one action, but a series of actions that to them implied that Noller had malice.
Check out our Web site for an in depth look at the dog mauling trial. Besides the full story and reaction, you can watch as the verdicts are read. It's simple. Our address is cnn.com, AOL keyword, of course, CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
