San Diego Police Upset Sagon Penn Won’t Face Death Penalty

San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender and his officers are upset over the San Diego County district attorney’s decision not to seek the death penalty against Sagon Penn, whose trial on charges of murdering a police officer and attempting to kill another began Monday.

“I think they should have gone for the death penalty,” Kolender said. “He killed an officer, wounded another one permanently and attempted to murder a woman civilian ride-along. And I think that the decision for the death penalty should have been left up to the judge and the jury, not made in the district attorney’s office.”

The chief called Penn “a cop killer” and said there was no question in his mind that the 23-year-old karate expert should be sent to the gas chamber if he is convicted of murdering Officer Thomas E. Riggs, 27, and injuring Officer Donovan Jacobs, 29.

Penn also is accused of attempting to kill a civilian observer who accompanied Riggs on patrol during the March 31 shooting.

Displeasure with the decision of prosecutors not to seek the death penalty in the case reaches through the ranks of the San Diego Police Department, said Deputy Police Chief Bob Burgreen. “The men and women of the department are not pleased with this decision,” he said.

Attorneys for the prosecution and defense Monday began quizzing potential jurors, a process that is expected to take at least two weeks. A total of about 100 witnesses will be called to testify during the trial. Prospective jurors were told to anticipate that the trial would last three months.

Prosecutor Michael Carpenter said members of the district attorney’s office unanimously agreed not to press for the death penalty in the Penn case.

“We just feel that when you take a look at the entire case, we don’t think it’s in the best interest to file for the death penalty,” Carpenter said. “We thought that because (the shootings) grew out of a volatile situation between officers and the defendant that it just was not the type of case where we would seek the death penalty or life without parole.

“Sagon Penn is not a Robert Harris. He’s never been convicted of anything before. He didn’t lie in wait for a police officer. This was an encounter that grew out of a very unfortunate situation.”

(Harris was convicted of shooting to death two San Diego teen-agers in 1979. After the murders, Harris ate one of the victims’ hamburgers. Harris is now on death row.)

By not facing the death penalty or a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole, Penn could be paroled even if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

Penn’s defense attorney, Robert Slatten, will argue during the trial that his client was beaten by the officers and acted in self-defense when he grabbed Jacobs’ revolver and began firing. Witnesses have testified that after Jacobs stopped Penn, the officer yelled racial slurs at Penn and hit him repeatedly.

To sentence a person to the death penalty, a jury must be convinced that a murder was premeditated and the suspect intended to kill. Carpenter said that the failure to file death penalty charges has no bearing on the nature of the evidence against Penn.

Slatten said he considered the district attorney’s decision not to seek the death penalty “significant.” He declined any further comment.

Many San Diego police officers, already frustrated by the support of some community leaders who have sponsored rallies and raised nearly $10,000 to help pay for Penn’s legal fees, are unhappy that the death penalty was not filed, Burgreen said.

An official for the San Diego Police Officers Assn. said he was surprised that the district attorney chose not to pursue capital punishment charges. “I think they would just as soon pass on the death penalty if they think they can’t get it,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous. “They don’t want to go through all that hell and publicity for a no-win situation . . ..”

Carpenter said that San Diego County District Attorney Edwin Miller does not routinely file death penalty charges in cases that technically qualify under the special circumstances state law. One of those special circumstances is committing a crime that results in the death of a police officer. He said that Miller has to be convinced that the particular offense and the defendant deserve the death penalty.

As an example, Carpenter cited a case in another California county involving a young girl who is being tried on death penalty charges for allegedly stabbing an elderly woman to death during a burglary attempt.

“I don’t think we would file for the death penalty in that case because we take the finding of the death penalty extremely seriously,” Carpenter said. “The way Mr. Miller views it, a person has to really warrant that . . . a Robert Harris, bad people. This particular (girl) may be a bad person because of what she did but . . . you have to look at the practicalities, too. A jury may never come close to filing the death penalty for such a young person.”

Kolender said he had no plans to complain personally to Miller about the decision not to seek the death penalty against Penn. “He’s going to read the newspaper, isn’t he?” Kolender said.

Times staff writer Jim Schachter contributed to this report.