# Marjorie Knoller, owner of killer dog in SF case back in jail **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970 "2008-08-22T22:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970/1 "2008-08-22T22:20:48Z")
I can’t say I’m just heartbroken that [Marjorie Knoller](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/22/BAJC12GPD1.DTL&tsp=1) is back in jail. Remember the San Francisco dog-mauling case where the dogs attacked and killed the lacrosse coach, Diane Whipple? Knoller was convicted by the jury of second degree murder, but the judge reduced her conviction to involuntary manslaughter, saying he believed her when she testified she had no idea that her dog might kill someone. She was paroled in 2004, but then her case went back to Superior Court after the state Supreme Court ruled last year that the judge had used the wrong legal standard in reducing Knoller’s conviction. From the article: Rather than requiring the prosecution to prove a dog owner knows the animal is likely to kill someone in order to get a murder conviction, the court said, it’s enough to show that the owner acted with conscious disregard for human life - that is, that the owner knew the animal was potentially lethal and exposed others to the danger. Sounds right to me – in states that divide murder into degrees, this is almost always second degree murder – extreme recklessness/“depraved heart” murder/ extreme indifference to the value of human life/wanton & reckless disregard for human life. She never seemed remorseful, either, and implied it was Whipple’s fault that she got killed… ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970/2 "2008-08-22T22:37:06Z")
As I recall, Knoller’s attorney said something to the effect that Knoller was being persecuted because the dog’s victim was a lesbian, and the District Attorney wanted to curry favor with the gay community in San Francisco by throwing the book at Knoller. What a crock. I’m glad Knoller is going back to jail. Too bad they can’t send her attorney, too. ---
**Author:** ![Broken\_Hoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@Broken\_Hoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broken_Hoe)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970/3 "2008-08-23T03:51:45Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] As I recall, Knoller’s attorney said something to the effect that Knoller was being persecuted because the dog’s victim was a lesbian, [/QUOTE] Um, isn’t Knoller a lesbian as well? Wasn’t it her girlfriend/partner who owned the other dog, Hera? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970/4 "2008-08-23T05:56:50Z")
No, she isn’t, and no, it was her husband. ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970/5 "2008-08-23T06:17:09Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] As I recall, Knoller’s attorney said something to the effect that Knoller was being persecuted because the dog’s victim was a lesbian, and the District Attorney wanted to curry favor with the gay community in San Francisco by throwing the book at Knoller. What a crock. I’m glad Knoller is going back to jail. Too bad they can’t send her attorney, too. [/QUOTE] Yes, that was ridiculous. Her attorney did do a horrible job of representing Knoller – she probably deserved sanctions at least. I can’t remember the details but she was pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970/6 "2008-08-23T08:40:04Z")
They were _perros de presa_ - “mangrabber dogs” would be the most literal translation I can come up with. I’m not particularly familiar with _perros de presa canarios_ but anything whose name begins with _presa_ is NOT a cuddly fido. The expression refers to any kind of dog whose main “job” is to grab and detain intruders (as opposed to, say, grab and maul intruders or point at rabbit holes). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970/7 "2008-08-23T13:01:13Z")
I am now doing my Happy Dance. That woman is such a bitch that she should get life in prison without parole and be grateful for it. Talk about a waste of human skin. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marjorie-knoller-owner-of-killer-dog-in-sf-case-back-in-jail/460970/8 "2008-08-23T15:17:36Z")
Some good news today for a change.