Dog Attack Trial Opens

A prosecutor in Los Angeles says dog-mauling victim Diane Whipple was covered from head to toe by wounds.

Prosecutor James Hammer is making a graphic opening statement today in the trial of Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel, a couple whose two dogs killed Whipple in their San Francisco apartment building.

Hammer showed the jury photos of Whipple's wounds, saying her throat was ripped apart, and that she had teeth marks on her head, neck, back, breasts, arms and thighs.

He says the dogs also tore almost every bit of clothing off Whipple's body during the attack, and that her pants were ``shredded'' in parts.

Defense attorneys had said the dogs weren't trained to attack, but Hammer says they were raised to be "aggressive guard dogs."

He says the breed owned by the defendants is one of the most aggressive types of dogs in the world.