Features

SAN FRANCISCO – An arraignment for two lawyers charged in the dog mauling death of their neighbor was delayed for a second time Friday because new attorneys for Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel haven’t had time to review the case. 

The arraignment now is scheduled for April 25. It originally was set for March 29, but was delayed then because another attorney said he hadn’t had time to review the case. 

At Friday’s five-minute hearing before Judge Philip Moscone, Knoller was represented by public defender Jan Lecklikner and Noel was represented by private attorney Bruce Hotchkiss. 

At the earlier hearing, the two lawyers were represented by George Walker. But Walker removed himself from the case Wednesday when the couple couldn’t raise the $50,000 he required to question witnesses. 

Knoller faces a second-degree murder charge in the Jan. 26 death of Diane Whipple. Knoller and Noel both face charges of involuntary manslaughter and keeping a mischievous dog that killed a human being. 

The lawyers also face two civil suits. The wrongful death suits were filed by Diane Whipple’s partner, Sharon Smith, and by her mother, Penny Whipple-Kelly. 

Smith’s attorney, Mike Cardoza, said he believes the delays are tactics by Noel and Knoller to let the case fall out of public memory and he pressed prosecutors to push for a quick trial. 

“Remember, the people have a right to a trial, too,” Cardoza said. “It’s easy to lose sight of what this case is about ... to bring Sharon to court and say to them quietly, ‘They took someone I love.”’ 

At the request of defense attorneys, Moscone temporarily sealed the grand jury transcript. A hearing on the issue will be scheduled. 

“It’s time for the spin machine to be shut down,” Knoller’s attorney said. “This is a criminal case that should be tried in the courts.” 

But assistant district attorney James Hammer said the only spinning has come from Noel and Knoller, who, until recently, had spoken often in public about the case — including their insinuations that Whipple’s actions led to the attack. 

“There’s been one machine in this case, that’s Noel and Knoller. They have spun repeatedly what happened the night of Diane Whipple’s death. They have fed the press,” Hammer said. 

Knoller, 45, and Noel, 59, remain in jail in lieu of bail. Knoller, who faces a possible sentence of 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder, is being held on $2 million bail. The bail for Noel is $1 million. 

The couple was caring for the two Presa Canario-mastiffs when the dogs — a 120-pound male named Bane and a 113-pound female named Hera — fatally mauled Whipple, 33, a St. Mary’s College lacrosse coach. 

Prison officials say the animals were part of a dogfighting ring run out of Pelican Bay State Prison by inmates Paul Schneider and Dale Bretches, who are serving life sentences without parole. 

In one of the case’s many strange twists, Noel and Knoller adopted Schneider as their son in a procedure that became official just three days after Whipple’s death.