Penn Supported by Defendant in Landmark Case

In March, 1975, Edward C. Lawson was stopped by a police officer on a Lemon Grove street and thrown in jail because he refused to show the officer his identification.

That incident began an eight-year court battle for Lawson, who eventually convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down California’s vagrancy law, which gave police the power to stop suspicious looking people on the street and ask for their identifications.

Ten years after Lawson’s arrest and two years after the high court’s 7-2 ruling that the law was unconstitutional, Lawson said police continue to ask people for their identification without any reason to suspect a crime.

Lawson spoke Saturday at a rally held in support of Sagon Penn--the 23-year-old man charged in connection with the March 31 slaying of Officer Thomas Riggs and the wounding of Officer Donovan Jacobs and Sara Pina-Ruiz, a civilian ride-along.

Lawson told about 150 Penn supporters “that Sagon Penn is in jail because he failed to pass an attitude test.”

The rally, held at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park in Southeast San Diego and organized by local black leaders and other Penn supporters, was held to raise money for Penn’s defense fund.

Lawson said this is the first time he has actively supported a cause since his court battles, which began in 1977 when he filed a suit against the San Diego Police Department.

The rally was also addressed by Penn’s father, Thomas, and Robert Holden, the father of Wayne Holden who was shot to death by police in May.

“Ten years ago I was stopped by a police officer and asked for my I.D.,” Lawson told the gathering. “In March, 1985, they stopped a man by the name of Sagon Penn.”

Penn is being held in County Jail in lieu of a $250,000 bail and is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 23.

Penn turned himself in minutes after the March shooting. During a weeklong preliminary hearing, his attorney, Robert Slatten, argued that Penn acted in self-defense because he was being beaten by Riggs and Jacobs.

Police, however, contend that Jacobs stopped Penn because he suspected him to be a gang member and also because the truck Penn was driving had failed to signal before making a turn. Penn allegedly wrested away Jacobs’ .38-caliber handgun, shot Jacobs in the neck, shot and fatally wounded Riggs, then walked to Riggs’ patrol car and shot Pina-Ruiz.

Many people who attended the rally wore T-shirts depicting Penn’s face with the words “Justice on Trial.” Penn’s father, holding a basket, later mingled with the crowd asking for donations.

During the rally two police officers stood on a hill across the street from the park on Skyline Drive and looked through binoculars at the quiet crowd, which was mostly made up of young families.

“If the truth comes out, he’ll walk,” Penn’s father said before the rally. “Every time I talk to him he says ‘Daddy, I’m scared. I just want to live to tell the truth.’ ”