Shooting of Civilian at Issue : Eye Expert Says Penn Had No Time to Weigh Risk

Sagon Penn was unable to determine if a civilian passenger posed any threat to him in the two seconds that elapsed between the time he fatally shot a San Diego police officer and the time he wounded the woman, according to testimony Monday by a vision expert.

James Harris, an eye researcher and past president of the Optical Society of San Diego, said that, while it may have been possible for Penn to look into a police car and realize that Sarah Pina-Ruiz was not dressed in a uniform, he did not have enough time to know that she was neither armed nor dangerous.

Monday’s testimony in the murder trial focused on Penn’s frame of mind when he shot Pina-Ruiz, who has testified that she watched in horror on March 31, 1985, as Penn shot Police Agent Donovan Jacobs once in the neck and killed Agent Thomas Riggs before pointing Jacobs’ revolver at her and pulling the trigger twice.

Defense attorney Milton Silverman has presented color photographs of sunlight reflecting off a police car window as if it was a mirror to support his contention that Penn did not see Pina-Ruiz when he turned and fired into the car. The defense maintains that Penn mistook Pina-Ruiz for a police officer.

Over vigorous defense objections, Superior Court Judge Ben. W. Hamrick on Monday accepted into evidence another photograph of the car window from Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Carpenter. The prosecution photo, showing less reflection, supports Carpenter’s contention that Penn’s view was not obstructed by the image of the setting sun when he shot Pina-Ruiz.

Last month, Harris accompanied investigators to the Encanto neighborhood where the shootings took place to photograph a police car window in the early evening hours. Appearing for the prosecution, Harris said Monday that he could not know what Penn was thinking at the time he looked into the window.

“I was there on a leisurely basis,” Harris said. “Mr. Penn was threatened. I can’t compare those two.”

Penn is charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder in the shootings, which occurred after Penn refused to give Jacobs his driver’s license. Numerous witnesses have testified that Jacobs beat Penn repeatedly with his fists and night stick and used racial slurs in trying to apprehend the 24-year-old Southeast San Diego man.

Also Monday, a San Diego psychiatrist testified for the prosecution that the physical and psychological effects of the shootings could explain why Jacobs distorted three crucial facts when he testified last month.

“Donovan Jacobs might have conflicts about the implications of using racial slurs,” Dr. Alan Abrams said. “As his memory looks at it, he says, ‘I was racist with Mr. Penn and it’s why my friend got shot.’ He may start to erode that memory subconsciously.”

A defense psychiatrist testified earlier that Jacobs lied and “created a new reality” when he testified that he did not use racial slurs, that Penn made an illegal U-turn and that Riggs was the first officer to physically confront Penn.

In other developments Monday, a juror who is more than eight months pregnant said she would like to return for jury deliberations after she delivers her baby if the case lasts for three more weeks.

Hamrick indicated that he was willing to interrupt deliberations to wait for the return of Vernell Hardy, who is expected to give birth June 1.