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American Morning
Just Who is Defense Attorney Nedra Ruiz?
Aired March 21, 2002 - 07:40 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The jury in the California dog mauling trial has reached verdicts in four of the five charges. But the decisions remain under seal until the jury returns a verdict on the last and final charge. While the jurors continue deliberations this morning, the verdict is already in on who the most controversial figure in the case is: the attorney representing dog owner Marjorie Knoller.
Just who is defense attorney Nedra Ruiz? We asked CNN's Thelma Gutierrez to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NERA RUIZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, no. Stop, stop.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She flails her arms...
RUIZ: ... falls down on Ms. Whipple.
GUTIERREZ: ... drops on all fours...
RUIZ: But the evidence will not show...
GUTIERREZ: She cries...
RUIZ: Stop, stop -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE), stop.
GUTIERREZ: ... and screams out. Granted, few of us have seen this behavior in court before, but unconvential as this 53-year-old defense attorney may be, no one can argue Nedra Ruiz is not passionate.
RUIZ: Marjorie was fighting to protect her from this dog.
GUTIERREZ: Prominent San Francisco attorney, Tony Serra, says Ruiz is fearless when it comes to fighting for her client, Marjorie Knoller.
J. TONY SERRA, ATTORNEY: She is a complete idealist and is a complete true believer. So her - you know, her passion, her devotion, her belief system is all manifested in everything she does in court.
GUTIERREZ: Devotion, perhaps, but she has her critics too. Peter Keane is Dean of Golden Gate University School of Law.
PETER KEANE, DEAN, GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW: She has gone ahead and raised the emotion level in that courtroom just to almost unbearable limits, which a defense attorney in a case like this should be trying to lower the emotional level.
GUTIERREZ: Nedra Ruiz has been a lawyer for 26 years and was one of the first Latinas working in a male-dominated field. But the dog mauling trial is her first murder trial. A tough place to be in a very high profile case. Keane says Nedra's style may turn off jurors.
KEANE: If they can't remember anything that's been said, because all they can remember is the spectacle of a lot of theatrics, then the client is in big trouble.
GUTIERREZ: Like her client, Marjorie Knoller, who is married to attorney Robert Noel, Ruiz is married to a lawyer. She is the mother of three grown children. She also owns a big dog, a rottweiler. A dog she now keeps muzzled after it bit a man.
RUIZ: My biggest precaution now is when I take him to the office, I put a beware of dog sign on the door so that no one will go in the office and trip over him.
GUTIERREZ: She once worked with Terrence Telinham (ph), the San Francisco D.A. who is now her opponent in this case, in an unsuccessful attempt to decriminalize prostitution.
RUIZ: He has always been very professional, very courteous. I count him a friend.
It was a tragic accident...
GUTIERREZ: Whether they love or hate her, legal experts say the worst thing that could happen in any attorney's opening statements or closing arguments is for the jurors to lose interest and start daydreaming. No question, Nedra Ruiz has kept them awake, if not guessing what she would do next.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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