letter from defendant Robert Noel, which disclosed the location of two people in witness protection programs, was introduced into evidence Thursday in the dog-mauling trial of Noel and his wife.
Prosecutors said the letter, written by the San Francisco attorney to Aryan Brotherhood member and Pelican Bay State Prison inmate Paul "Cornfed" Schneider, put the witnesses' lives in jeopardy and further linked the defendants to Schneider.
Noel and his wife, Marjorie Knoller, are on trial for the mauling death of Diane Whipple by two dogs prosecutors say were part of a prison-run enterprise in which the two attorneys participated.
Noel and Knoller deny that they were partners in the dog operation with Schneider -- whom they adopted -- and his former cellmate, Dale Bretches.
The two defendants, who are in custody, also have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and keeping a mischievous dog charges. Knoller also entered an innocent plea to second-degree murder.
The trial, which is in its first week, is estimated to last another five to seven weeks. It was moved to Los Angeles following heavy pre-trial publicity in the Bay Area.
Correspondence sent into and out of the prison by both Noel and Knoller under the guise of "confidential legal mail" showed a nexus between the defendants and the prison gang, lead prosecutor James Hammer told the seven-woman, five-man jury.
Hammer's key witness was Devan Hawkes, an investigator specializing in prison gangs with the state Department of Corrections. He said the letters from the attorneys were found in the cell of Schneider and Bretches.
"In one of those letters, Mr. Noel revealed the location of some other prisoners who Mr. Hawkes thought were enemies of the Aryan Brotherhood," Hammer said during a break.
Hawkes testified that Kenny Costa and Timothy "Bam Bam" Hickerson were federally protected witnesses who were going to testify in trials. He also said that Costa once stabbed Schneider in Pelican Bay.
In his letter, Noel casually provided to Schneider intelligence he had gained from an unidentified source.
"I thought I would pass on some interesting developments," he wrote. "Kenny Costa is housed in federal custody in Colorado and Timothy "Bam Bam" Hickerson together with other [former Pelican Bay] inmates [are] housed at the federal correctional facility at Lompoc."
Hammer asked Hawkes to assess any jeopardy to the two. "It's significant, because here he's discussing the location of a protected witness and there's the potential that great bodily harm could come to that witness," Hawkes testified.
"So it's very serious."
Noel also wrote Schneider that he had heard about the time Schneider had smuggled into a court a weapon in his rectum that the inmate used to stab his own lawyer.
Noel said he and Knoller agreed that if he did [stab the lawyer] he must have had a "damn good reason and the schmuck probably deserved it."
In another letter, Noel made it clear that as Schneider's attorneys, he and Knoller would not hinder any escape the inmate might try.
"All she and I would do is wave goodbye and wish you good luck and Godspeed," Noel wrote.
Hawkes said that the apparent collusion between lawyer and inmate posed a serious problem because Schneider is classified as a "high escape risk" prisoner.
Another letter reaffirmed Noel's promise not to hinder any such attempt. "If you went for the door ... I would get my ass out of the way so you had a clear shot at the door, windows, etc." Noel wrote.
Hammer said that Hawkes' testimony and the letters showed the defendants were associates -- not members -- of the Aryan Brotherhood.
The prosecution also introduced a letter from Bretches to Noel telling the lawyer that he had ordered several books on raising aggressive dogs, one entitled Gladiator Dog, and another called Manstopper.
A copy of Manstopper was discovered by police in Noel and Knoller's Pacific Heights apartment. Whipple was killed in that same building on Jan. 26, 2001, by Bane and Hera, the two Presa Canario dogs in the care of the defendants.
Hawkes testified that Noel was working with Bretches to find places where pups born from the dog-raising operation could be sold at the best price.
"I believe it was an Aryan Brotherhood enterprise," Hawkes told the jury.
He said other prison gang members also contributed money to underwrite costs. Schneider had won a civil damage award that provided seed money, Hawkes said.
"It would suggest that Mr. Noel and Ms. Knoller were involved in the same business," the corrections department investigator said. "I believe they were involved with the Aryan Brotherhood."
The defendants say they were merely caretakers -- not owners -- of the dogs that killed Whipple.
Noel's defense attorney, Bruce Hotchkiss, sought to soften the impact of the letters introduced by the prosecution.
"You do not know what Mr. Noel's intent and motives were when he wrote those letters?" he asked Hawkes.
"I do not," Hawkes replied.
Expected to take the stand tomorrow are neighbors of the defendants who say they were bitten or intimidated by the dogs.
The trial resumes today with the key prosecution witness, corrections
department investigator Devan Hawkes, testifying about the Aryan
Brotherhood's entrepreneurism outside prison.
