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LOS ANGELES — Mauling trial defendant Marjorie Knoller denied under cross-examination Tuesday that her dogs were dangerous, refused to concede she ever lost control of the dog that killed Diane Whipple and insisted she tried to save her. 

Knoller was calm during more than three hours of questioning by Assistant District Attorney Jim Hammer, unlike her tearful demeanor when she was questioned by her own lawyer about the violent scene in a hall of her San Francisco apartment building. 

“You said that you were in control the entire time,” Hammer asked. 

“I was trying to maintain control,” Knoller said several times. 

The defendant acknowledged, however, that during testimony to a grand jury she had said the dog “overcame my physical ability.” 

Knoller, 46 is accused of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and owning a mischievous dog that killed a person. Her husband, Robert Noel, 60, who was away at the time, is charged with the latter two counts. Both defendants are attorneys. 

Whipple was attacked by one of the couple’s two huge presa canario dogs, Bane, as she was bringing groceries into her apartment on Jan. 26, 2001. 

“Were you in control of Bane,” Hammer asked Knoller. 

“Bane was attached to me,” she said, insisting she held onto the leash throughout the attack. 

“That’s control?” the prosecutor asked. 

“He’s not running free,” she said. “He’s attached to me.” 

The prosecutor asked whether she remembered the expression on Whipple’s face. 

“I didn’t know her. She was a stranger,” Knoller said. 

“OK,” said Hammer, “This complete stranger. Did you ever say, ’I can’t control my dog. Get in your apartment.”’ 

“No,” said Knoller. 

“Not once?” asked Hammer. 

“Not once,” said the defendant. 

The prosecutor attacked Knoller’s claim that she put her body on top of Whipple while the dog attacked. Knoller was steadfast in her account. 

“I was in the middle of this the whole time,” she said. “I was putting my body on Ms. Whipple.” 

She cited the fact that she also was bitten, but Hammer noted that her bites were minor. 

She also acknowledged that she left the dying woman in the hallway and went into her apartment with Bane and the other dog, Hera, which had begun running loose. 

“I had to get Bane out of the hallway so he wouldn’t tear her apart more than he already did,” Knoller said. 

She also acknowledged that she came back out, walked past Whipple’s body and went into the victim’s apartment to look for her keys. 

Knoller frequently pleaded a poor memory, saying it “fades in and out because of the nature of the incident.” 

Prosecution witnesses who testified about frightening encounters with the couple’s dogs were “mistaken” or “inaccurate,” she said. 

The defendant denied one account by a building resident who claimed he was bitten by Hera.  

“My recall of the incident is Hera’s mouth and his butt were nowhere in proximity,” she said. 

The prosecutor also questioned her about a state prison inmate the couple adopted. She said she had no knowledge of a plan by the inmate to breed presa canarios for sale as aggressive guard dogs through a business called “Dog O’ War” 

Earlier, under questioning by her attorney, Knoller denied blaming Whipple for the attack. 

“I was angry at some of the things being said,” Knoller told the jury as she tried to explain comments she made to news media. 

“Do you blame Diane Whipple?” defense attorney Nedra Ruiz asked. 

“No, never have,” Knoller said. 

“Did you ever claim you were not responsible for what happened?” asked Ruiz. 

“I said in an interview I was not responsible but it was not in regard to the attack. It was in not knowing what he (Bane) would do,” Knoller said. 

Much of Knoller’s testimony focused on her own injuries, which she said were suffered in a “battle” that lasted between 10 minutes and 20 minutes. 

When it was over, she said, she knew Whipple was gravely injured and at one point applied pressure to the side of her neck while still trying to hold the dog. 

She said she finally decided it was more important to get the dog out of the hallway and into her apartment. She said she also was distracted by trying to locate Hera. 

The defense also called a Los Angeles emergency room supervisor, Dr. David Barcay, who examined two pictures taken the day of the attack and said Knoller’s injuries were identical to some bite marks found on Whipple.