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CNN Live Today

Knoller to be Sentenced

Aired July 15, 2002 - 12:33   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Marjorie Knoller is back in a San Francisco courtroom for sentencing. You may remember, she and her husband were convicted for the dog-mauling death of their neighbor, Diane Whipple. That happened a year and a half ago. In March, both of them were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Robert Noel has been sentenced to four years in prison, but Knoller could wind up in prison a lot of longer.

CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us now to explain what is going on -- hi, Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this is the third time Marjorie Knoller has been in this courtroom awaiting some kind of sentencing.

The last time, the judge did overturn the second-degree murder conviction. And the reason for that was, he said that, when Marjorie Knoller walked out of her apartment or down that hallway with those dogs, she did not know that those dogs were capable of murdering Diane Whipple a year and a half ago. And that's the standard for second- degree murder in California.

Now they are back in court. Right now, Knoller's attorney is arguing, No. 1, that, if she is sentenced today, that would constitute double jeopardy. She can't be sentenced for manslaughter and then go and be retried on second-degree murder charges for the same crime.

The other motion, he is arguing, is that the DA in San Francisco, Terence Hallinan, filed for an appeal before this sentencing. Now, what that did was kick this whole thing up to a higher court, the state appellate court. And what he is arguing is that this court no longer has jurisdiction; this court can no longer try to -- or can no longer legally sentence Knoller to manslaughter charges. They have to kick it up to appellate court.

Then again, the DA, Terence Hallinan, will argue that she wanted a speedy sentencing; this is what she asked for. And they are disputing the double-jeopardy charges.

Now, a few days ago, Marjorie Knoller, for the very first time, has spoken out, spoke to our affiliate KTVU, and did express, for the very first time, regret and remorse over what happened. She said it was a horrific thing that happened to Diane Whipple, that she doesn't want to go to prison, that she didn't want to be forced to join some kind of prison gang. She also said that if she had a magic wand, she would turn back time so that none of this would ever have happened.

But we are expecting the judge, James Warren, to make some kind of decision very soon here this morning on whether or not Marjorie Knoller will be sentenced or whether we will have to wait and see what the appellate court says -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: When that decision is made, we'll check in with you. Rusty Dornin, thank you.

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