San Francisco ? On the same day flamboyant defense attorney Nedra Ruiz was replaced in a notorious dog-mauling death case, she confessed her dramatic defense strategies may have led to her client’s second-degree murder conviction.

A Los Angeles jury found San Francisco lawyer Marjorie Knoller guilty March 21 of causing the dog-mauling death of St. Mary’s College lacrosse coach Diane Whipple.

“I have to think my mistakes contributed to this terrible, terrible verdict,” Ruiz said Friday, the day attorney Dennis Riordan, who specializes in appeals, officially took over the case.

During the trial, Ruiz’s defense strategy was dramatic. She crawled around on the floor, burst into tears and seemed scattered and disorganized.

Some jurors interviewed after the verdict said Ruiz resorted to the theatrics because she didn’t have the facts to convince them of her client’s innocence.

Knoller, who faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison on the murder conviction, hired San Francisco attorney Riordan April 2.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren approved the replacement Friday and granted a request to delay sentencing from May 10 to June 7.