Substantially as I predicted, the California Supreme Court has reversed the trial judge in the Diane Whipple murder case (People v. Knoller).

The high court ruled that the lower court incorrectly applied the test for second degree murder. The Supreme Court held that a defendant can be convicted of second degree murder if he has "awareness of engaging in conduct that endangers the life of another."

The case has been sent back to the trial court. The lower court will have to rule again as to whether a new trial is warranted.

The case has great significance for a number of reasons. Dog owners need to realize that juries can and do find irresponsible owners guilty of murder under the right circumstances. Prosecutors need to keep in mind that they should not introduce evidence of the dog owners' bad character, because being evil is not a proper ground for conviction, but being reckless with a dog certainly should be. And state legislatures around the USA must provide the specific, dog-oriented statutes necessary to punish dog owners for criminal behavior.

To read more, click on the link below.

Pit Bull Destroyed by Court Order After Mauling Child
KLAS-TV - Las Vegas,NV,USA
A dog that mauled a Henderson girl last month has been destroyed by court
order. The owner of the pit bull mix will be arraigned in June on charges
for the ...

2-year-old mauled by pit bull
KGET 17 - Bakersfield,CA,USA
BAKERSFIELD - A little girl continued to recover in the hospital after
being mauled by a pit bull. The dog attacked Haley Enox, 2, Friday night in
an ...

Child Killed in Dog Attack
WTOC - Savannah,GA,USA
A 3-year-old boy has died of injuries he received when he was mauled by
some dogs over the weekend. The attack happened at Hunter Army Airfield on
Saturday ...

Pound worker bitten
Attleboro Sun Chronicle - Attleboro,MA,USA
Saturday's incident was the first pit bull attack in the city since August
2005, when 24-year-old Sally Bolduc was mauled by a dog that she had just
warned ...


Pit bull mauls little girl
KGET 17 - Bakersfield,CA,USA
A little girl is recovering in the hospital on Sunday after being mauled by
a dog. A pit bull attacked two-year-old Haley on Friday night in an Oildale
...

Two year old mauled by pit bull
InjuryBoard.com - Tampa,FL,USA
They say that pit bulls are inherently no more dangerous than any other
breed of dog when the dog is paired with an irresponsible owner. ...

Today, a third person has died as a result of being attacked by a dog in the USA.

In El Paso, Texas, 96-year-old Magdalena Silva was mauled by a Doberman Pinscher and a German Shepard as she was feeding the dogs.

A 90-year-old man in San Antonio, Texas named Selestino Range was killed by two pit bulls that were staying temporarily at his house.

In Tennessee, 54-year-old James Chappel, Jr., whose brutal injuries and hospital-bed testimony helped to repeal the "one bite rule" in that state, died from complications of those injuries, which were incurred earlier in the year and were also inflicted by pit bulls.

As previously reported, the legislature has passed two new bills pertaining to dog bite law. One of them (referred to as SB 143 / HB 108) eliminates the "one bite rule" for dogs that are off their owners' property.

If you are interested in reviewing the text of the proposed new law, follow the instructions and links given at the Tennessee page of Dog Bite Law.

This important bill comes with some bittersweet news. The bill has been given the short title, "The Dianna Acklen Act of 2007," after a woman whose death was an important motivating force behind Sen. Jackson's several bills pertaining to dog laws.

There also is sad news. The other dog bite victim who greatly influenced this legislation, Mr. James Chappel, Jr., died before the governor signed these bills. Mr. Chappel was the man from Memphis who was seriously injured by two pit bulls that mauled him when he exited a bus. Just days after losing an arm in the attack, he testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee by video tape from his hospital bed. Complications of his horrific injuries apparently were the cause of his death.

The deaths of Mrs. Acklen and Mr. Chappel happened while Tennessee was a "one bite state." Let's hope that these new laws will be effective, so that their lives were not lost in vain.

A local TV news station did a 3-minute video pertaining to the dog attack that left a toddler fighting for his life this weekend in California. The footage shows both of the dogs involved in the mauling.

Click here for the news report and the opportunity to observe the dogs and determine whether, in your opinion, they actually are pit bulls.