Accused of Killing Police Officer : Dramatic Opening in Sagon Penn Murder Trial

A Superior Court jury heard dramatic and conflicting versions Tuesday of how Sagon Penn shot and killed one San Diego police officer, seriously wounded another and wounded a woman passenger in a police car.

The accounts came during opening remarks in a murder trial that is expected to last at least three months.

Prosecutor Michael Carpenter said Penn, 24, a martial arts expert, fought a violent battle with San Diego Police Agents Donovan Jacobs and Thomas Riggs before the shootings last March 31.

“Jacobs will testify that he hit Penn as hard as he could with his baton and it had no effect,” Carpenter said. The prosecutor said that Penn wrested Jacobs’ police revolver from him, put the gun to the officer’s neck and fired once before shooting Riggs three times and firing shots that twice grazed a civilian seated in Riggs’ patrol car.

On the other side of the case, defense attorney Milton Silverman told the jury that Jacobs stopped Penn’s pickup truck for no legitimate reason and initiated a brutal and racist attack on his client.

“I think the weight of the evidence is going to be that Riggs is approaching in a low-key, polite, unaggressive way . . . “ Silverman said. “Jacobs is a Doberman pinscher.”

The defense attorney accused Jacobs of relentlessly beating Penn with his baton and fists and stating: “You think you’re bad, nigger? I’m going to beat your black ass.”

Lying on the courtroom floor fending off imaginary blows from police batons, Silverman vividly portrayed the events that led his client to shoot the two police officers and civilian Sara Pina-Ruiz.

After Penn grabbed the police revolver, Silverman said, Jacobs made a kicking motion and the gun discharged.

Penn is charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder. The trial began Feb. 19 with two weeks of jury selection.

Outside the cramped courtroom of Judge Ben Hamrick on Tuesday, reporters and spectators were required to pass through a metal detector. Some of Penn’s relatives and Colleen Riggs, the slain policeman’s widow, attended the trial. Many spectators could only watch the proceedings on television monitors in the hallway, as the 32 courtroom seats filled up quickly.

Inside the courtroom, the style and approach of the prosecutor and defense attorney in delivering the opening remarks differed as sharply as their interpretations of the shootings.

Carpenter stood passively at a lectern about six feet in front of the jury box and calmly recounted the events of March 31. The prosecutor spoke for 23 minutes with little emotion as he consulted his notes, written on a yellow legal pad.

“(Penn) had fired six rounds from the six-shot revolver. All six found their mark and all six required no more than six seconds,” Carpenter said.

He said Penn fled the scene in Jacobs’ patrol car, running over the fallen Jacobs as he left. Penn surrendered to police within an hour.

Carpenter finished his remarks by asking jurors to weigh all the evidence:

“You will hear from eyewitnesses, responding police officers, detectives, technicians, criminologists, Penn’s (karate) instructors. . . . We ask that you listen to the witnesses’ statements very carefully. Thank you.”

Silverman, in a natty gray suit with suspenders, staged a theatrical show. The jurors listened attentively and some leaned forward on the edge of their seats while watching Silverman.

Silverman threw punches into the air to demonstrate how Jacobs allegedly pummeled Penn, each time shouting “Boom! Boom!”

He violently swung an imaginary night stick to depict Jacobs standing over Penn and beating him.

Silverman began his nearly hourlong presentation by putting the lectern aside and pacing the courtroom. He used props such as enlarged black-and-white aerial photographs of the scene and wall-sized street maps of the Encanto neighborhood where the shootings took place.

Silverman put himself in the shoes of Penn and Jacobs and repeated many of their statements from memory.

Penn was driving a pickup carrying seven friends when he was stopped by Jacobs, who radioed to a dispatcher that he suspected the passengers belonged to a street gang.

Silverman portrayed the initial encounter between Jacobs and Penn in the following manner:

Jacobs (in a harsh, gruff voice): “What’s up, blood?” (a nickname referring to a member of a black youth gang).

Penn (very courteous): “What’s the problem, officer?”

Jacobs: “You claim cuz or blood?”

Penn: “What are you talking about, sir? If I claim anything, I claim myself.”

Silverman turned to the jury and remarked, “Penn knows that Jacobs is mistaking him for a gang member, something that he is not.” And then he continued the dialogue at the time that Penn took out his wallet to show his identification.

Jacobs: “I don’t want your wallet! I want your license!”

Penn: “Go ahead, sir. Look at the whole thing. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Jacobs: “Look, boy! I’m going to tell you one more time or you’re going to get hurt.”

Silverman then showed the jury how Penn tried to walk away and Jacobs grabbed his arm. The defense attorney then threw an elbow and a punch, and explained that Jacobs had struck Penn in the face.

The opening statements left jurors with a series of crucial questions that they will have to resolve in deciding Penn’s fate:

- Did Jacobs act properly in attempting to apprehend Penn once he refused to provide his driver’s license? Or did he provoke Penn into shooting by using racial slurs and excessive force?

Silverman told the jury Tuesday that, according to police investigation reports, Jacobs said he jumped into a fracas after Riggs began striking Penn with his baton.

“The evidence will show that Riggs was not involved in the initial confrontation,” Silverman said. “(Riggs) was being calm and polite. He became involved only when Donovan Jacobs drew his baton and starting swinging wildly at Sagon Penn’s head.”

- Did Penn attempt to murder the two officers and civilian Sara Pina-Ruiz or did he act in self-defense once the weapon discharged and injured Jacobs?

The prosecution claimed that Penn, relying on his expert karate skills, defended himself adequately, exchanging blows with the police officers. Silverman said that Penn, battered and bruised by police batons, feared that he would be killed if he did not react.

- Did Penn pause and stare into the police squad car before firing two shots at Pina-Ruiz?

Silverman argued that Penn believed Pina-Ruiz was a police officer when he pulled the trigger. He said evidence will show that the six shots were fired within six seconds, making it impossible for Penn to pause in between shots.

However, the prosecution’s first witness, Junius Holmes, a passenger in Penn’s pickup, testified Tuesday that Penn told Pina-Ruiz: “You’re a witness!” before he fired into the car.

Other witnesses testified last year at a preliminary hearing that they heard no such remark.