California Couple Guilty in Dog Mauling Case

[tommo]

I did a search but couldn't bring up the old thread on this. Sorry mods. Delete at will.

Anyway, the report at CNN is here .

A horrible tale. Quite unnecessary. And one thing caught my eye:

Her lawyer, Nedra Ruiz, contributed to the courtroom drama by crawling on the floor, kicking the jury box and crying during her opening statement. In closing arguments, she accused prosecutors of trying to "curry favor with the homosexual and gay folks"

Right. I know it's her job but...right. Okay. Thanks.

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You know I've been through hell...Joss can't you see, there'll be nothing left of me. You made me believe...

[Princess Willow]

Ruth,

Thanks for posting this. I live in San Francisco and have been bombarded with information on this case from our local media. I knew a verdict was due today or tomorrow and was wondering how it would turn out.

Does anyone know if the verdicts in this case have any bearing on the civil suit Sharon Smith, Whipple's partner filed for damages?

Thanks again!

Erica

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"Lord what fools these mortals be."

[TyRex316]

And Johnnie Cochran would have figured out some way to make that last bit rhyme. Perry Mason-esque she ain't.

[Billie]

Another article from the SF Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... gtrial.DTL

[SlayerTazz]

Tommo, thanks for the post...I truly feel for Sharon Smith and her loss...nobody should have to go thru this.

I think that justice has for once done its job.

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A dream is a wish the heart makes.

Willow: "You had two eggs, sunny-side-up. I remember because they were wiggling at me like little boobs."
Tara: Sassy Eggs.

[tommo]

The CNN article mentioned the case for damages. It's down at the bottom.

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You know I've been through hell...Joss can't you see, there'll be nothing left of me. You made me believe...

[Banshee]

Over the summer I had recieved an email from Diane Whipples sister--she was a very sweet woman and I'm glad for her, Sharon and their family that things ended this way.

Now..and the real reason I posted--I happened to catch Knollers defense attorney on Crossfire last night and she is probably a good lawyer--if not also a wee bit off of her rocker. She tried to defend that statement that Ruth posted by saying that, if Diane were not a lesbian, then this case never would have happened. She said it was the lgbt community in San Fransisco that pushed Diane's Family and Sharon in pushing to bring charges and that the prosecutor and judge were trying to win points w/that community. She also tried to blame Diane for her own death in saying that she was mensturating and those hormones caused the dog to attack her. And, well, beyond that--the woman was the embodiment of obnoxious. The moderators and Sharons lawyer all had to shout over her when she continuously interrupted them. Which, she was almost held in contempt for doing the same during the closing rebuttal argument for the prosecution.

-S

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"Believe me I don't want to go,
And it'll grieve me 'cause I love you so
But we both know..."

[Wiccagrrl]

Horrible story, but very glad the verdict went this way, and hoping that the civil case goes well.

My heart goes out to Diane Whipple's loved ones.

[Scout]

I'm so very happy about the verdicts. Hopefully they will hold up under appeal and will help with the civil suits and financial settlements. None of it can bring her back, but at least they can find some justice and give her death some meaning.

[Genea]

Well, thats good then. I feel for that poor woman but, maybe now she can get some closure.

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Sugarloaf
Well, dip me in chocolate and throw me to the lesbians!!

[Kalita]

quote:

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Originally posted by Banshee:
She also tried to blame Diane for her own death in saying that she was mensturating and those hormones caused the dog to attack her.

---

Well, I guess I stop menstruating the next time I find myself living near vicious dogs, 'cuz then I'll be safe... quote:

[Zahir]

Gods, this was such a horrible thing to happen. But at least the justice system did act as befits its name. This time.

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"O let my name be in the Book of Love.
If it be there, I care not of
That other book Above...
Strike it out! Or write it in anew.
But let it be in the Book of Love!"
--Omar Kyam

[VampNo1]

As to the civil suits the family will file its basically a "slam-dunk". With the criminal case having found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the burden for a civil suit is a lesser burden (preponderance of the evidence). Therefore, a civil suit in all intents in purposes could forgo a trial and goto the damages phase. However, I don't think the family will be able to recover huge monetary damages from the defendants because they couldn't even post the 1 million dollar bail to stay out of jail before the trial. On the other hand, the family could definitly go after the landlord of the apartment building, and make a good case they were liable. Therefore, the landlords insurance company might have to settle the case, and that's where the huge monetary damages would be recovered. Either way this was a horrible case and I am glad the victims family can now have some sort of closure in their lives.

[Anakin1218]

My gf and I where hugging each other when the verdict was read

Finially the justice sytem in Cali did something right by the glbt comunitty. My heart goes out to Diane's gf's family and friends.

Ooh the defense attorney was very obnoxious, no sane lawyer would entertain saying those things if it was a straight couple that had lost a partner

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"My heart doesn't stutter" -Tara

[fell]

Those people (the defendants) hung themselves by being obnoxious and clueless from the beginning. They actually insisted that she "must have done something" to provoke the dog. Even before they were charged they were in "blame the victim" mode, trying to present this as good ol' all-American dog lovers vs. suspicious deviant queers.

Keeping a dangerous, unsecured animal is like leaving a loaded shotgun sitting on your front porch. If someone gets hurt how can you not be responsible? Unfortunately, most of the victims of dog maulings are children.

This was so tragic and unnecessary. She shouldn't have had to live in fear of those dogs, much less get killed by one. The defense kept saying that no one had complained to the police but it wouldn't have done any good anyway. Too many people keep dogs that their neighbors are afraid of yet the law doesn't offer a remedy until someone is injured or killed. Maybe that will change now.

[Perfume V]

The defence lawyer also said (I think this is a quote) "No-one complained about these dogs before the incident."

Erm... right. Two points:

1) Is that saying "Hey, lay off the dog. It makes one little mistake and you all jump all over it! Give the dog a chance."
2) Of course no-one complained about it - it hadn't done anything at that point. So I guess aside from being a Filthy Deviant Queer, the victim was guilty of not being a clairvoyant. Whoo - evil or what?

[Banshee]

quote:

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Originally posted by Perfume V:
The defence lawyer also said (I think this is a quote) "No-one complained about these dogs before the incident."

Erm... right. Two points:

1) Is that saying "Hey, lay off the dog. It makes one little mistake and you all jump all over it! Give the dog a chance."
2) Of course no-one complained about it - it hadn't done anything at that point. So I guess aside from being a Filthy Deviant Queer, the victim was guilty of not being a clairvoyant. Whoo - evil or what?

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Actually, there were over 30 complaints about the dogs--just none of them were filed w/the police--so, I don't know if this was w/the landlord or what.
I don't know how many of you are aware of the sheer significance this case has. Under California law--and in most states--if you are not a SPOUSE of a victim, then you have no legal backing in trying to sue for wrongful death. This case has set a precedence in the fact that Sharon is being allowed to sue. I also believe that Gov. Davis also pushed something that now allows SS-partners to do this.

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"Believe me I don't want to go,
And it'll grieve me 'cause I love you so
But we both know..."quote:

[Perfume V]

Yeah, I got it. I live in Britain, but I have a lot of friends in America who keep up to date with this sort of thing (some having a fairly obvious vested interest in it themselves).

[Hemiola]

As fell stated, the principle behind this is very simple: possessing an "attack-trained" dog is the equivalent of possessing a loaded gun.

No court would ever buy the argument that a victim of a gunshot "provoked" the gun into discharging, or that the owner "tried to prevent" the gun from going off.

[Still Waters Run Deep]

Whoa! Just heard about this for the first time today. read it in The Independent Newspaper:

This was a case that could not have been invented by even the most lurid tabloid newspaper, with two singularly unsympathetic defendants, a peculiar relationship that they cultivated with a pair of tattooed white supremacists, an even more bizarre relationship with their deadly dogs that may have stretched to bestiality, and an eccentric defence lawyer who appeared even more unpleasant than they did.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/ame ... ory=277172

Lurid or what? The mind doth truly boggle.
At least the right verdict was obtained.

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love and kisses

Still Waters Run Deep

" Hi!..um..aw...shit...he he he....'Scuz me..er.. I did'nt mean to..er....expose myself to.. ,ya know..public...*groan* "

Amber...

[This message has been edited by Still Waters Run Deep (edited March 22, 2002).]

[Scout]

quote:

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Originally posted by Banshee:
I don't know how many of you are aware of the sheer significance this case has. Under California law--and in most states--if you are not a SPOUSE of a victim, then you have no legal backing in trying to sue for wrongful death. This case has set a precedence in the fact that Sharon is being allowed to sue. I also believe that Gov. Davis also pushed something that now allows SS-partners to do this.

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You're right - I think that has been somewhat overlooked in the coverage of this case. Although nothing can bring her back or make up for what has happened, at least something really positive was achieved because of it - something that could very well affect the lives of gay people all across the country now that it's gained acceptance in California. Pretty amazing when you think about it. quote:

[Kalita]

I think the significance has not yet been felt because this was the criminal trial - they have been punished by the state for the death of a human being.

The civil trial, in which the partner sues, will bring this forward much more, because it will be the case of a lesbian whose partner is seeking recompense over her death; a somewhat different ball of wax...

[Cipher]

quote:

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Originally posted by Banshee:
Actually, there were over 30 complaints about the dogs--just none of them were filed w/the police--so, I don't know if this was w/the landlord or what.

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These were people that came forward after the fatal attack; I'm not sure if any of them had "complained" to the landlord prior to that. But at the very least the defendants were each present at multiple prior incidents and had been warned by others (vet, prior owner) directly and were thus made aware of the dangerous nature of their dogs and refused to take sufficient measures to protect the public (eg. their neighbors). That's how the jury found them criminally negligent.

quote:

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I don't know how many of you are aware of the sheer significance this case has. Under California law--and in most states--if you are not a SPOUSE of a victim, then you have no legal backing in trying to sue for wrongful death. This case has set a precedence in the fact that Sharon is being allowed to sue. I also believe that Gov. Davis also pushed something that now allows SS-partners to do this.

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A California court found that the marriage requirement in the wrongful death statute coupled with the statute banning same-sex marriages creates an unequal treatment under the law which violates the California state constitution (I think, as opposed to the US Constitution which is perhaps more ambiguous). Since you can't retroactively allow a same-sex marriage after her partner's death as a remedy to the inequity, the judge ruled she had to be allowed to sue as the domestic partner of the victim. I'm not sure if this reached the highest state appeal, but I would not expect it to be overturned in California (and a Federal appeal seems unlikely to have grounds if the ruling was based on the state constitution).quote:quote:

[Mrs. CaptMurdock]

This break my heart. She ( the victim ) was such a great person. She was doing so much and had so much more to offer.

I hope that she gets more than 15 years. I hope it sat least 25.

Did you hear about the sex they were having with the dogs? Now thats weird.

[Banshee]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cipher:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Banshee:
[b]
A California court found that the marriage requirement in the wrongful death statute coupled with the statute banning same-sex marriages creates an unequal treatment under the law which violates the California state constitution (I think, as opposed to the US Constitution which is perhaps more ambiguous). Since you can't retroactively allow a same-sex marriage after her partner's death as a remedy to the inequity, the judge ruled she had to be allowed to sue as the domestic partner of the victim. I'm not sure if this reached the highest state appeal, but I would not expect it to be overturned in California (and a Federal appeal seems unlikely to have grounds if the ruling was based on the state constitution).

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Also, according to the CNN story last week on this--the California Legislature passed something that said that DP can also actively pursue wrongful death benefits--this was part of about a dozen 'rights' that Gov. Davis signed for lgbt people in CA.

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"Believe me I don't want to go,
And it'll grieve me 'cause I love you so
But we both know..."quote: