MAULING CASE PUTS LIBERAL DA IN SPOTLIGHT

San Francisco's top prosecutor believes so strongly in medicinal
marijuana he recently testified -- for the defense -- at the trial of
two men accused of growing pot for patients. He admits he once smoked
the stuff. And inhaled.

Terence Hallinan was the only district attorney in the state to
support the drug treatment-over-incarceration initiative, Proposition
36. He favors legalizing prostitution and refuses to seek the death
penalty.

Hallinan gladly spars over the liberal agenda that often makes him a
lone voice in law enforcement. Yet what's put him in the spotlight
these days is the headline-grabbing case of a woman killed by her
neighbors' dogs.

``All you have to do is say `the dog case,' and everybody in America
- -- if not the whole world -- knows what you're talking about,''
concedes Hallinan, 64, who says he will ``probably'' run for mayor
when term limits force Willie Brown out in 2004. ``To me, it's just
another case.''

Hardly. The vicious, fatal mauling of lacrosse coach Diane Whipple in
January shocked the city and made national news. Subsequent
revelations linking the two dogs' owners, Marjorie Knoller and Robert
Noel, to dog-breeding convicts were lurid. And critics said
Hallinan's decision to charge Knoller with second-degree murder was
motivated by public pressure; many Bay Area gays stood behind the
victim's partner in calling for murder charges.

Knoller's attorney, Jan Lecklikner, has accused Hallinan of bowing to
the hysteria surrounding the case. She called it shameful to bring a
murder charge against ``a woman who lost control of her dog.''

HALLINAN INFO
Education: University of California-Berkeley and Hastings College of
the Law Sports: Narrowly missed being a member of the U.S. boxing
team at the 1960 Olympic Games
Born: Dec. 4, 1936
Married: to Lisa Streeter Hallinan, his former administrative aide
Children: Five, including two with current wife

But these extremes -- the liberal who avoids prosecuting
``victimless'' crimes and the district attorney accused of going
overboard on violent crime -- are not necessarily incongruous for the
onetime boxer known as ``Kayo'' and scion of a famously liberal
family whose life of both privilege and outspoken activism has earned
its members a reputation as ``San Francisco's Kennedys.''

A father of five who owns a cocker spaniel, a bichon frise and a toy
poodle, Hallinan has no qualms about throwing the book at Knoller,
who was present during the attack. Her husband is charged with
involuntary manslaughter; both would face prison time if convicted.

``Over the last few months, I've lost more than a night's sleep over
Noel and Knoller,'' Hallinan said, sitting in his office at the Hall
of Justice. ``Everybody feels these people were out of line, did an
evil thing and should be punished.''

That's what the city's large vocalnumber of bicyclists thought when a
truck driver hit and killed one of their own in November. They held
frequent rallies, demanding criminal charges. Hallinan eventually
filed felony manslaughter charges, making the driver eligible for a
``three strikes'' conviction and life in prison.

But April 17, a judge tossed out the felony charge.

``It was very frustrating to see it take off as a political case when
the facts weren't there,'' said David Simerly, an attorney who
initially represented the driver.

Even under fire, Hallinan continues to fight for his signature causes.

In March, he testified that the Sonoma County men growing pot for a
cannabis club were operating within the guidelines of Proposition
215, the 1996 state initiative legalizing marijuana for medical use.
The case never would have been prosecuted in San Francisco, he said.
The men were acquitted.

The Hallinan-backed Proposition 36, which mandates treatment rather
than incarceration for many drug offenders, passed in November with
the support of 60 percent of voters.

``Terence is far more in touch with the attitudes of voters in
California than are his colleagues,'' said Keith Stroup, executive
director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws.

``He's not the only prosecutor in America who feels that way,'' added
Stroup, a friend of Hallinan's since the 1970s. ``But right now he's
the only one who has the courage to say that out loud, in public.''

When Hallinan, who says he smoked marijuana ``a long time ago,''
received an award from NORML at a ceremony in April, he spoke about
AIDS and cancer patients who benefit from the drug. ``He literally
teared up,'' Stroup recalled.

Some say Hallinan's liberalism -- and pugnacity -- are as much a
product of genetics as his blue eyes. His father, Vincent, was a
legendary defense lawyer often jailed for contempt of court. In 1952
he ran for president on the Progressive Party ticket -- from prison.
Hallinan's mother, Vivian, was a well-known peace activist.

As a youth, Hallinan was arrested for assault and battery and, as a
student protester, was clubbed by San Francisco police. The State Bar
of California tried to deny him a law license, on grounds of
character.

He appealed and won, going on to defend clients that included heiress
Patty Hearst and mass murderer Juan Corona. Then came a stint as a
San Francisco supervisor, when he advocated decriminalization of
prostitution and legalization of medicinal marijuana. He was first
elected district attorney in 1995, and narrowly won re-election over
former prosecutor Bill Fazio in 1999.

Hallinan's soft-on-crime image irked even former Public Defender Jeff
Brown, who accused him of taking too few cases to trial.

``Criminal prosecution was not his lodestar. He was more interested
in developing alternatives,'' Brown said. ``I think you have to do
both.''

Still, recently, he has begun to earn guarded praise from police who
concede his heart's in the right place -- even though they wish he
were tougher on criminals.

``He's somewhere to the left of Karl Marx, and I'm somewhere to the
right of Attila the Hun,'' quipped police Lt. Henry Hunter, who led
the police investigation of the dog case. ``I understand where he's
coming from. I don't always agree with the choices he makes.''