Edition: U.S. / Global


Published: July 4, 2002

Prosecutors appealed a judge's decision to overturn a San Francisco woman's second-degree murder conviction in the dog-mauling death of her neighbor. Rather than ask the judge, James Warren, to reconsider his decision, Terence Hallinan, the San Francisco district attorney, opted to go to the state appeals court. The woman, Marjorie Knoller, faces a four-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter on July 15. Her husband, Robert Noel, also convicted of involuntary manslaughter, received a four-year sentence last month. The couple were convicted in March in the January 2001 death of Diane Whipple, who was mauled by two dogs they were caring for. Ms. Knoller, 46, could have received 15 years to life in prison for murder.