The medical examiner who conducted [Jacob] Adams' autopsy August 7 said the bite abrasions and lacerations on the man's body were most likely nonfatal, said Capt. Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

"We're not saying the bites were definitely not the cause of death, though," Winter told The Associated Press.

"When animals attack humans or other animals, the victims usually end up with bites around the head and neck. He had none," Winter said. "This leads us to believe he went down for some other medical reason."

The news came as a welcome relief to Rhames, who opted to ignore the Captain's caveat and pronounce his relief over his pets' innocence, stopping short of proudly gushing how the dogs were probably just trying to drag their keeper to safety, and would have dialed 911 were they not impeded by their unwieldy snouts.

• Probe: Man likely not killed by dogs at Rhames' home [CNN.com]

A dog mauling incident was reported at the home of actor Ving Rhames on Friday morning, and one person is reported dead, according to police.

Police said they got a call at about 7:15 am about a body on a lawn with bite marks. The victim, believed to be a property caretaker, was described as a Black male in his 40s.

Two dogs, reportedly Mastiffs, were captured by animal control officers.

A reader who happened to be in the area in the ensuing chaos, and who didn't initially know what was going on outside the home, wrote in with this report from the scene:

There have been helicopters, police and rubberneckers outside a mcmansion on san vicente near the country mart for the past two hours—when I went over to check it out, I was told by several people that a "maid had been killed by the dog." nobody really seemed concerned about the loss of human life; in fact, people were taking pictures of the developing crime scene in the house's driveway with their iphones, at which point I decided to go curl up under the covers with a bottle of tequila and wait for the coming apocalypse.

We'll probably wind up settling for draining a bottle of tequila at our desks for the rest of the day.

• Police: Man Dead After Dog Mauling At Actor's Home [KNBC.com]