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LOS ANGELES (AP) Using bloody pictures, a coroner testified
Monday that the victim of last year's fatal dog mauling in San
Francisco was bitten or clawed everywhere except the soles of her
feet and the top of her head.
Dr. Boyd Stephens, the chief medical examiner in San Francisco,
calmly explained each area with descriptions such as "the large
jugular vein was transected or severed." He used a pointer to show
exactly where canine teeth penetrated Diane Whipple's body.
Before the display began, Superior Court Judge James Warren told
the audience: "Ladies and gentlemen, these are very specific
photographs. They are going to be shown and they are going to be
very detailed. You may not want to be present."
Whipple's mother quickly left the courtroom and spectators
continued to exit as the testimony became increasingly gruesome.
With 24 enlarged pictures posted on display boards, prosecutor
Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom had Stephens describe all 77 injuries to
Whipple's body. Each was projected on an 8-by-10-foot screen.
As jurors watched, defendant Marjorie Knoller sat with her head
down, a hand shielding her eyes. Her husband, Robert Noel, seated
inches from the screen, watched the pictures and methodically took
notes.
Whipple, 33, a college lacrosse coach, was attacked by her
neighbors' two huge dogs in her apartment building hallway on Jan.
26, 2001.
Knoller is accused of second-degree murder, involuntary
manslaughter and having a mischievous dog that killed a person.
Noel is accused of the latter two charges. Their trial was moved to
Los Angeles due to extensive publicity in San Francisco.
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