People v. Knoller

41 Cal.4th 139, 158 P.3d 731, 59 Cal.Rptr.3d 157 (2007)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Knoller (D) and Noel, were attorneys representing a prison guard at Pelican Bay State Prison. They met inmate Schneider and filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brenda Storey against Coumbs over the ownership and custody of the four Presa Canario dogs. Coumbs decided not to contest the lawsuit and to turn the dogs over. Coumbs warned D that the dogs had killed Coumbs's sheep, but D did not seem to care. D took them to the vet. The vet warned D in a letter the dogs had no training or discipline of any sort. They were very difficult to vaccinate, and such 100 pound plus animals would be a liability in any household. He told D of a boy who lost his arm and had his face disfigured by such large dogs. The dogs weighed 150 and 130 pounds. Coumbs told D that she was worried about the dogs and that they should be shot. D brought the 130-pound dog, Hera, to their sixth-floor apartment in San Francisco. Then the 150-pound dog, Bane. D frequently exchanged letters with Pelican Bay inmates Schneider and Bretches. Over 100 letters were sent and received under the guise of attorney-client correspondence. D discussed a commercial breeding operation. Prior to the main incident, there were about 30 incidents of the two dogs being out of control or threatening humans and other dogs. D could not control them. Neighbors complained about dog on dog attacks. One tenant was bit on the 'rear end.' Codefendant Noel suffered a severe injury to his finger when Bane bit him during a fight with another dog. Diane Whipple, the victim, and her partner Sharon Smith lived in a sixth-floor apartment across a lobby from D. In early December 2000, Whipple called Smith at work to say, with some panic in her voice, that one of the dogs had bitten her. Whipple made every effort to avoid the dogs. On January 26, 2001, Birkmaier, a neighbor heard dogs barking and a woman's 'panic-stricken' voice calling, 'Help me, help me.' Birkmaier called 911. There was more commotion and Birkmaier called 911 a second time. When police arrived, Whipple's body was in the hallway; her clothing had been completely ripped off, her entire body was covered with wounds, and she was bleeding profusely. D and the two dogs were not in sight. Whipple died from her wounds. She was covered with 77 discrete injuries 'from head to toe.' The most significant were lacerations damaging her jugular vein and her carotid artery and crushing her larynx, injuries typically inflicted by predatory animals to kill their prey. The bite injuries to Whipple's neck were consistent with Bane's teeth. D denied reading literature in the apartment referring to the vicious nature of the dogs. The jury found D guilty of second-degree murder; it also found both D and Noel guilty of involuntary manslaughter and owning a mischievous animal that caused the death of a human being. Both defendants moved for a new trial. The trial court denied Noel's motion. The trial court granted D's motion for a new trial on the second-degree murder count. The court described the definition of second-degree murder as requiring that one 'subjectively knows, based on everything, that the conduct that he or she is about to engage in has a high probability of death to another human being.' Both D and P appealed. The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's order granting D's motion for a new trial on the second-degree murder count.