BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Closing arguments begin today in the San Francisco dog mauling trial. That case was moved to L.A. Jurors will then decide if a couple is responsible for the dog attack that left their neighbor, Diane Whipple, dead. Thelma Gutierrez now filed this report a short time ago from Los Angeles.</s>THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're now entering the fifth week of the dog mauling trial. Closing arguments begin this morning. The first 45 minutes will be spent instructing jurors on the law. Then, the prosecution will begin to argue its case, followed by the defense. 46-year-old Marjorie Knoller and husband, 60-year-old Robert Noel are charged with involuntary manslaughter, and keeping a vicious dog that killed a person. Knoller is additionally charged with second degree murder for the death of 33-year-old Diane Whipple. Whipple was viciously attacked by the couple's two Presa Canario dogs in the hallway of her San Francisco apartment building more than a year ago. The defense claims the dogs acted completely unexpectedly, that there was no way the couple could have predicted their dogs would go berserk, but the prosecution argued the couple had plenty of warning signs their dogs were dangerous, that they had lunged, snarled, and even bit at more than two dozen people before Diane Whipple killed. And if Marjorie Knoller is found guilty of murder, she will become the first person convicted in California for the actions of her dogs. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
Dog Mauling Trial Closing Arguments Get Underway