Because there was so much pre-case publicity, both parties were tried together and many people didn’t like that. They should have been tried the case in San Francisco since the crime happened there. The fact that they lobbied for a change of venue makes me believe that had this been prosecuted in San Francisco that the punishment would be much different. And they should have been tried separately, since Marjorie was up for second-degree murder and Robert was not, although I believe he should have been. They were both incarcerated and held without bail. Marjorie and Robert were picked up by the police and taken into custody, on March 27th. When the police picked them up, they were at a dinner party at a friend’s home. When Marjorie was informed that she was being arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, she looked at Robert and fell to the floor, unconscious. Those at the party said Marjorie was in shock that she and Robert were being humiliated in the home of a friend. The ordeal had only begun. Robert and Marjorie lost their license to practice law. In incarceration, Marjorie cried for hours that she was wrongly accused. She tried desperately to have her parents bail her out. She couldn’t understand how this had even happened. She knew that Bane had been euthanized on the spot, and she knew that Diane was dead. The charges and sense of impending disaster finally become real to her, and supposedly she was being seen by a physician for hard, calcified lumps she developed all over her, and, was wheeled into the court room at first, by a wheelchair. She was obviously very ill and but still tried to pay attention to the court proceeding. It was hard for her to understand some very basic legal documents. Her parents were worried. They had adopted Marjorie as a newborn and for her whole life, all she was known for a young, vivacious woman that graduated at the top of her class. She had a few different ideas but, finally, the one that won out as law. Marjorie thought that might be something she could have a life in that she would enjoy and be successful at. At no time then, did she realize that decision would change her life, for the rest of her life.

It was determined at the Grand Jury that indictments of Majorie Knoller and Robert Noel would be handed down, thereby charging them with the crimes listed: 2 counts for both Robert and Marjorie of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of possessing a dangerous animal. Marjorie came down with one more blow. A charge of second degree murder. The court explained that Robert Noel would not be charged with murder, since he was out of town when the attack occurred. Marjorie was stunned. She believed that she had done all she could, and didn’t do anything wrong. Noel was similarly surprised They both were of the opinion that it wasn’t their fault that Bane killed Diane Whipple. The blame fell on the dog and not something that Robert or Marjorie have blamed for. Her lack of remorse didn’t fool the Grand Jury. And Robert’s bragging how he scared Diane in the letter to Schnider, made them look like people who didn’t care about Diane’s death. Marjorie had a lawyer named Nedra Reese. From her hair mussed and her rumpled suits, Ms. Reese had the court bemused and angered by her antics, I’m surprised the judge allowed it. Noel did nothing during the entire trial, except sit quietly and stare down. The. trial was moved to Los Angeles but it was too late. The gristly trial was news everywhere. And Marjorie was scared of being a convicted murder that the court could give her up to fifteen years in a penitentiary. Robert Noel looked stoned during the trial, completely devoid of emotions, even seeing his wife sobbing on the stand. He just didn’t care. Both he and Diane were responsible, yet he continued to deny his part in it since he was out of town. Marjorie’s testimony was no more that tears before bedtime. She knew that she was going to be abandoned by Noel and she was only out to save herself. Many times she looked back at her parents, sitting behind the glass, and mouthed the words,”I love you,” She was scared to death. The trial went on and on, for what seemed like ever, but really wasn’t long at all. People shocked at the violence and titillated by the sexual innuendoes were not disappointed. At the end of it all, both Robert and Marjorie were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and owning a mischievous animal that kills. Marjorie Knoller was convicted of second degree murder which, in the most disgusting and callous acts of injustice ever seen, was overturned by a different judge. He calmly explained that Marjorie had no knowledge that Bane would kill someone that day, so her original conviction of involuntary manslaughter would be sufficient. This means that for taking the life of Diane Whipple, she would only serve four years. Four years of her life to a lifetime of Diane Whipple’s. That, is injustice of the highest order.

Diane Whipple’s partner, Sharon Smith initiated a civil wrongful death suit against the lawyers, the property management, and of course, Robert and Marjorie. The California State of law is that same sex couples can file wrongful death on behalf of a loved one. The trial went pretty much as was expected. Between Nedra Ruiz’s courtroom antics, to the rabid media, to a man across the street yelling, ”God hates fags! This is what you all deserve!” Moving the trial in LA was no better that having it in San Francisco. Marjorie put on a good act, sobbing remorsefully that she could only remember, ”the horror, the horror…”

I believe it was an act. Prosecutor for the state James Hammer later said,”This was a couple that were deranged. They got off on the fact that people were frightened of the dogs.” That seemed to be the local consensus. So many people had heard about the case, it wasn’t a local California case. It had become a national case, with many gay demonstrations, which I feel could have been handled in a different way. Yes, Diana was a lesbian. Yes, she had a monogamous lifestyle. Did these things really matter in a brutal slaying the way Diane was slaughtered? No. The dogs should never have had a chance to live in that building, if the property managers had been more aware of the actions of the tenants of his property. So many states have laws against owning specific breeds of dogs that may be aggressive that is it hard to believe that the property management didn’t know that the apartments had a pair of vicious, killing dogs living there.

Sharon Smith and Diane’s mother are proceeding with the suit against the state and the property management. I hope that this brings some justice to such a sad ending of a woman who loved her life and had her life cruelly taken from her by a pair of sociopath lawyers on a power trip. They thought their career choice would save them from being convicted of any wrongdoing. Thank God they were wrong. They may not have had the proper punishment but they have been stripped of their legal credentials, and lost their socialite status. For people like them that means more than than incarceration. That is taking away the very right to use their power against other people.