Diane Whipple
Encyclopedia
Diane Alexis Whipple was a lacrosse
player and coach, who is best known as the victim of a fatal dog attack
in San Francisco in January 2001. The dogs involved were two Presa Canario
dogs named Bane (male) and Hera (female), owned by neighbors living in the same apartment building.
. Her hometown became Manhasset, New York
on Long Island
, where she grew up and attended high school. She was raised primarily by her grandparents, and it quickly became apparent that she was a gifted athlete. As her athletic prowess increased, lacrosse became her sport of choice.
A two-time All-America
n in high school, and at Penn State, perhaps no other factor more defined Whipple's life than her athletic talent and drive. She was twice a member of the U.S. Women's Lacrosse World Cup
team.
Whipple later moved to San Francisco, and came within seconds of qualifying for the U.S. 1996 Olympics
team in track and field
, for the 800 meters. However, she did not compete at the 1996 Olympic Team Trials.http://www.usatf.org/news/wot96.asp Failure to make the team was a huge disappointment for her. She became a coach and teacher, assuming the position as the lacrosse coach at Saint Mary's College of California
in Moraga, California
. She was often described as a beloved and memorable mentor. Whipple lived with her domestic partner of six years, Sharon Smith, an investment banker.
inmate and a leading member of the Aryan Brotherhood
prison gang, who were attempting to start a dog fighting
business.
Due to his larger size, Robert Noel usually handled Bane, who weighed 140 pounds (63.5 kg). Marjorie Knoller was home alone with the dogs on January 26, 2001, and decided to take Bane up to the roof, just one flight up the stairs. Whipple was returning from a trip to the grocery store when Bane and possibly Hera attacked her in the hallway. (Hera's role in the mauling has never been firmly established.) The dog(s) caused 77 wounds to Whipple, with only her scalp and feet escaping harm. Whipple died at San Francisco General Hospital
; the cause of death was "loss of blood from multiple traumatic injuries (dog bite wounds)."(pp. 10,28)
Bane was euthanized
immediately after the attack; Hera was seized and later euthanized in January 2002.
indicted Knoller and Noel. Knoller was indicted for second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, Noel was indicted for involuntary manslaughter, and "both also face[d] felony charges of keeping a mischievous dog".
The jury found both Noel and Knoller guilty of involuntary manslaughter and owning a mischievous animal that caused the death of a human being. The jury also found Knoller guilty of second degree murder. During the trial, Knoller and her lawyers argued that she had attempted to defend Whipple during the attack. This assertion was contradicted by witness testimony. Other witnesses testified about their level of control over the dogs, including a professional dog walker, who, after telling Noel to muzzle his dogs, was told to "shut up" and called offensive names. An acquaintance of Noel's testified that Noel did not apologize after the acquaintance was viciously bitten by Hera a year before the fatal attack.(p. 211) Their convictions were based on the claim that they knew the dogs were aggressive towards other people and did not take sufficient precautions with such large and dangerous animals. Whether they had actually trained the dogs to attack and fight remained unclear. After Knoller's and Noel's convictions in 2002, the State Bar of California
had suspended their law licenses. Noel was disbarred
in February 2007.
The dogs had been raised by Janet Coumbs on behalf of 38-year-old Paul Schneider, a high-ranking member of the prison gang Aryan Brotherhood who was serving a life sentence in Pelican Bay State Prison. Schneider and his cellmate Dale Bretches were attempting to start an illegal Presa Canario fighting-dog business from within the prison cell. Coumbs had been working with Schneider and Hard Times Kennel owner/breeder James Kolber of Akron, Ohio
regarding the acquisition of the dogs. Against Kolber’s advice, Coumbs chained the dogs in a remote corner of the farm, which caused them even more problems with aggression. This led to her falling out of favor with Schnieder after the dogs attacked and killed a goat and a few chickens without ever being corrected, thus both of them assuming they could continue with such behavior (pp. 105,122,128). It was about this time that Noel and Knoller had become acquainted with Schneider while doing legal work for prisoners, and, for some reason, adopted him as their son a few days before the mauling. It was reported that even their relatives were at a loss to understand the adoption. They agreed to take possession of the dogs after Coumbs fell out of favor with Schneider.
The trial judge ordered a new trial on Knoller's second degree murder count, ruling that implied malice requires a defendant to subjectively know that his or her conduct had a high probability of resulting in death. State prosecutors appealed, seeking to reinstate the second degree murder conviction. As of early 2004, both Knoller and Noel had served their terms for the manslaughter conviction and Knoller was out on bail
while her conviction was under appeal
. In May 2005, based on its understanding of implied malice to require defendant's subjective appreciation and conscious disregard of a likely risk of causing serious bodily injury to another, the Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's call for a new trial on the second degree murder count, and Knoller appealed to the California Supreme Court.
On June 1, 2007, the California Supreme Court rejected the Court of Appeal's decision, ruling that the correct standard of implied malice was not simply an awareness of the risk of serious bodily harm, but requires proof that a defendant acted with conscious disregard of the danger to human life. The Court held that the trial court had set the bar too high, finding that implied malice would only be possible if the defendant knew his or her conduct had a high probability of resulting in death. In contrast, the Court found that the appellate court had set the bar too low, finding that implied malice would be possible if the defendant was aware her conduct risked causing serious bodily injury. The Court ordered the trial court to reconsider whether to allow the second degree murder conviction to stand, in following with the reasoning it set forth.
The trial court in this case, the San Francisco Superior Court, re-instated the conviction for second degree murder, and on September 22, 2008, the court sentenced Marjorie Knoller to serve 15 years to life for the death of Diane Whipple.
On August 23, 2010, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled 3-0 that Marjorie Knoller acted with a conscious disregard for human life when her Presa Canario escaped and killed Diane Whipple in 2001. Knoller is serving a sentence of 15 years to life. She was initially paroled after serving four years on the manslaughter conviction.
In addition to the criminal charges, Sharon Smith also succeeded in suing Knoller and Noel for $1,500,000 in civil damages. She donated to Saint Mary's College of California
to fund the women's lacrosse team. Three months after her death, Whipple was celebrated at St. Mary's by her lacrosse team and over 600 friends and others.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
player and coach, who is best known as the victim of a fatal dog attack
Dog attack
Dog attacks are attacks on humans by feral or domestic dogs. With the close association of dogs and humans in daily life , dog attacks—with injuries from very minor to significant, and severe to fatal—are not uncommon. Attacks on the serious end of the spectrum have become the focus of increasing...
in San Francisco in January 2001. The dogs involved were two Presa Canario
Perro de Presa Canario
The Perro de Presa Canario is a large Molosser-type dog breed originally bred for working livestock. The name of the breed is Spanish, means "Canarian blood hound," and is often shortened to "Presa Canario" or simply "Presa." The breed is also called Dogo Canario, mean Canarian...
dogs named Bane (male) and Hera (female), owned by neighbors living in the same apartment building.
Life
Whipple was born in Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
. Her hometown became Manhasset, New York
Manhasset, New York
Manhasset is a hamlet and neighborhood in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 8,080....
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, where she grew up and attended high school. She was raised primarily by her grandparents, and it quickly became apparent that she was a gifted athlete. As her athletic prowess increased, lacrosse became her sport of choice.
A two-time All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n in high school, and at Penn State, perhaps no other factor more defined Whipple's life than her athletic talent and drive. She was twice a member of the U.S. Women's Lacrosse World Cup
Women's Lacrosse World Cup
The Women's Lacrosse World Cup, the recognized world championship of international women's lacrosse, is held every four years. From its inception in 1982, it was sponsored by the governing body for women's lacrosse, the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations, until that body...
team.
Whipple later moved to San Francisco, and came within seconds of qualifying for the U.S. 1996 Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
team in track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, for the 800 meters. However, she did not compete at the 1996 Olympic Team Trials.http://www.usatf.org/news/wot96.asp Failure to make the team was a huge disappointment for her. She became a coach and teacher, assuming the position as the lacrosse coach at Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, United States, a small suburban community about east of Oakland and 20 miles east of San Francisco. It has a 420-acre campus in the Moraga hills. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church...
in Moraga, California
Moraga, California
Moraga is a suburban incorporated town located in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named in honor of Joaquin Moraga, whose grandfather was José Joaquin Moraga, second in command to Juan Bautista de Anza...
. She was often described as a beloved and memorable mentor. Whipple lived with her domestic partner of six years, Sharon Smith, an investment banker.
Attack
Whipple was killed on January 26, 2001, by two large Presa Canario dogs that attacked her in the hallway of the apartment building. The dogs were owned by neighbors, Marjorie Knoller and her husband Robert Noel, both attorneys.(p. 138) In 2000, Knoller and Noel obtained the two dogs, named Bane and Hera, through their relationship with Paul "Cornfed" Schneider, who was a Pelican Bay State PrisonPelican Bay State Prison
Pelican Bay State Prison is a supermax California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison near Crescent City in unincorporated Del Norte County, California. The facility is explicitly designed to keep California’s alleged “worst of the worst” prisoners in long-term solitary...
inmate and a leading member of the Aryan Brotherhood
Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
prison gang, who were attempting to start a dog fighting
Dog fighting
Dog fighting is a form of blood sport in which game dogs are made to fight, sometimes to the death. It is illegal in most developed countries. Dog fighting is used for entertainment and may also generate revenue from stud fees, admission fees and gambling....
business.
Due to his larger size, Robert Noel usually handled Bane, who weighed 140 pounds (63.5 kg). Marjorie Knoller was home alone with the dogs on January 26, 2001, and decided to take Bane up to the roof, just one flight up the stairs. Whipple was returning from a trip to the grocery store when Bane and possibly Hera attacked her in the hallway. (Hera's role in the mauling has never been firmly established.) The dog(s) caused 77 wounds to Whipple, with only her scalp and feet escaping harm. Whipple died at San Francisco General Hospital
San Francisco General Hospital
San Francisco General Hospital is the main public hospital in San Francisco, California, and the only Level I Trauma Center serving San Francisco and northern San Mateo County...
; the cause of death was "loss of blood from multiple traumatic injuries (dog bite wounds)."(pp. 10,28)
Bane was euthanized
Animal euthanasia
Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...
immediately after the attack; Hera was seized and later euthanized in January 2002.
Legal proceeding against dog owners
In March 2001, a grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
indicted Knoller and Noel. Knoller was indicted for second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, Noel was indicted for involuntary manslaughter, and "both also face[d] felony charges of keeping a mischievous dog".
The jury found both Noel and Knoller guilty of involuntary manslaughter and owning a mischievous animal that caused the death of a human being. The jury also found Knoller guilty of second degree murder. During the trial, Knoller and her lawyers argued that she had attempted to defend Whipple during the attack. This assertion was contradicted by witness testimony. Other witnesses testified about their level of control over the dogs, including a professional dog walker, who, after telling Noel to muzzle his dogs, was told to "shut up" and called offensive names. An acquaintance of Noel's testified that Noel did not apologize after the acquaintance was viciously bitten by Hera a year before the fatal attack.(p. 211) Their convictions were based on the claim that they knew the dogs were aggressive towards other people and did not take sufficient precautions with such large and dangerous animals. Whether they had actually trained the dogs to attack and fight remained unclear. After Knoller's and Noel's convictions in 2002, the State Bar of California
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
had suspended their law licenses. Noel was disbarred
Disbarment
Disbarment is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking his or her law license or admission to practice law...
in February 2007.
The dogs had been raised by Janet Coumbs on behalf of 38-year-old Paul Schneider, a high-ranking member of the prison gang Aryan Brotherhood who was serving a life sentence in Pelican Bay State Prison. Schneider and his cellmate Dale Bretches were attempting to start an illegal Presa Canario fighting-dog business from within the prison cell. Coumbs had been working with Schneider and Hard Times Kennel owner/breeder James Kolber of Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
regarding the acquisition of the dogs. Against Kolber’s advice, Coumbs chained the dogs in a remote corner of the farm, which caused them even more problems with aggression. This led to her falling out of favor with Schnieder after the dogs attacked and killed a goat and a few chickens without ever being corrected, thus both of them assuming they could continue with such behavior (pp. 105,122,128). It was about this time that Noel and Knoller had become acquainted with Schneider while doing legal work for prisoners, and, for some reason, adopted him as their son a few days before the mauling. It was reported that even their relatives were at a loss to understand the adoption. They agreed to take possession of the dogs after Coumbs fell out of favor with Schneider.
The trial judge ordered a new trial on Knoller's second degree murder count, ruling that implied malice requires a defendant to subjectively know that his or her conduct had a high probability of resulting in death. State prosecutors appealed, seeking to reinstate the second degree murder conviction. As of early 2004, both Knoller and Noel had served their terms for the manslaughter conviction and Knoller was out on bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
while her conviction was under appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
. In May 2005, based on its understanding of implied malice to require defendant's subjective appreciation and conscious disregard of a likely risk of causing serious bodily injury to another, the Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's call for a new trial on the second degree murder count, and Knoller appealed to the California Supreme Court.
On June 1, 2007, the California Supreme Court rejected the Court of Appeal's decision, ruling that the correct standard of implied malice was not simply an awareness of the risk of serious bodily harm, but requires proof that a defendant acted with conscious disregard of the danger to human life. The Court held that the trial court had set the bar too high, finding that implied malice would only be possible if the defendant knew his or her conduct had a high probability of resulting in death. In contrast, the Court found that the appellate court had set the bar too low, finding that implied malice would be possible if the defendant was aware her conduct risked causing serious bodily injury. The Court ordered the trial court to reconsider whether to allow the second degree murder conviction to stand, in following with the reasoning it set forth.
The trial court in this case, the San Francisco Superior Court, re-instated the conviction for second degree murder, and on September 22, 2008, the court sentenced Marjorie Knoller to serve 15 years to life for the death of Diane Whipple.
On August 23, 2010, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled 3-0 that Marjorie Knoller acted with a conscious disregard for human life when her Presa Canario escaped and killed Diane Whipple in 2001. Knoller is serving a sentence of 15 years to life. She was initially paroled after serving four years on the manslaughter conviction.
In addition to the criminal charges, Sharon Smith also succeeded in suing Knoller and Noel for $1,500,000 in civil damages. She donated to Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, United States, a small suburban community about east of Oakland and 20 miles east of San Francisco. It has a 420-acre campus in the Moraga hills. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church...
to fund the women's lacrosse team. Three months after her death, Whipple was celebrated at St. Mary's by her lacrosse team and over 600 friends and others.
See also
Further reading
- Harrington, Joseph. "Death of an Angel: The Inside Story of how Justice Prevailed in the San Francisco Dog-Mauling Case".
- Jones, Aphrodite. Red Zone: The Behind-The-Scenes Story of the San Francisco Dog Mauling. ISBN 0-06-053782-5
- Millan, Cesar. Cesar's Way (contains a section on this case).
- O'Leary, Shannon. Pet Noir (contains a story by O'Leary, illustrated by MariNaomi, of this case), Manic D Press.
- Wright, Evan. Hella Nation (contains a investigative report into the case, entitled "Mad Dogs and Lawyers")
External links
- Dog Bite Law discussion
- The San Francisco Dog Mauling
- Court TV coverage of Diane Whipple dog mauling case
- San Francisco Chronicle coverage
- "Descent into Darkness - Southern Poverty Law CenterSouthern Poverty Law CenterThe Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...