Community Must Accept Lessons of Justice System Proven by Penn Case

Hendoku iyaku is a Buddhist term that means changing poison into medicine, the belief being that, with sincere Buddhist practice, a person can change any unfavorable situation into a source of happiness. The struggle to heal the wounds created by the tragic incident involving Sagon Penn can be said to be an exercise in changing poison into medicine.

In order for the “healing” to come about and for relations between the San Diego Police Department and the black community to improve, the community as a whole must accept the fact that in the Penn case our system of justice did not fail us but instead proved that it can work for all.

It is also important that the Police Department institute changes designed to preclude incidents such as the one that occurred in March, 1985, causing the loss of a police officer’s life, the wounding of two other people and the devastation of a young man who has dedicated his life to peace for all mankind.

A great deal of misinformation has floated around about the Penn case, particularly about the jury. For example, some people believe the jury was “loaded” with blacks. Actually, only two blacks were on the jury.

During jury selection, each attorney was given equal opportunity to extensively question members of the jury panel. In this phase, the lawyers had the opportunity to ask the judge to excuse any prospective juror “for cause,” such as the acknowledged inability to be fair or impartial.

Then the attorneys were allowed to exercise a specific number of preemptory challenges that enabled them to remove any potential jurors without giving a reason.

Neither prosecutor Michael Carpenter nor defense attorney Milton Silverman used all the preemptory challenges available to him. Some people who have found the not-guilty verdicts unpalatable have tried to depict defense attorney Silverman as having some superpower to unduly influence the jury. But while Mr. Silverman did demonstrate how competent he is, Mr. Carpenter is also a very experienced attorney, highly respected by his peers.

Mr. Carpenter had virtually unlimited resources at his disposal in prosecuting Sagon Penn. The district attorney’s office has its own team of investigators plus access to all police files and physical evidence. Traditionally, the Police Department and the district attorney work together in gathering and preserving evidence to prosecute a case. Expert witnesses and exhibits were no less available to the prosecution than they were to the defense.

Those who have formed negative opinions about the Penn verdict should realize that only the jurors and those required to sit through the entire trial saw all the evidence and heard all of the testimony. In reaching their decision, they had to assess the credibility of each witness. To reach the not-guilty verdicts the jury arrived at, all 12 had to vote the same way.

Much has been reported about the testimony indicating Police Agent Donovan Jacobs was the instigator of the fatal incident. His honesty, temperament and racial attitudes have been explored. Not as much has been reported about the character of Sagon Penn.

During the first few weeks Penn spent in the San Diego County Jail, he agonized over why and how he could have been involved in an incident that resulted in the death of another human being. He prayed and continued his studies of Buddhist terms such as hendoku iyaku and tried to apply this principle to his own life.

He tried to understand the feelings of those who were hostile to him, recognizing the tragedy that had happened to one of their own. For long hours, he chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist invocation believed to change one’s life condition, that the pain and anger they were demonstrating would somehow be replaced by peace and happiness.

He expressed deep concern for the victims and their families and prayed on their behalf. He made the determination to chant continuously, not just to overcome his present crisis, but for something positive to rise from the ashes of this tragedy. Something that would contribute to this community becoming safe and peaceful for all San Diegans.

There have been very positive reports regarding the kind of child and adolescent Penn was. The fact that the goal of his life philosophy is to achieve world peace may give us some idea of what Penn the man might be like.

In the aftermath of the trial, there have been calls from a variety of corners for the creation of a civilian review board to restore confidence in the Police Department. This would be a step in the right direction. However, it is more valuable to prevent incidents of police misconduct than to review and pass judgment on them after the fact.

Prevention of police misconduct begins with appropriate recruitment and training of law enforcement personnel and is facilitated by professional, humanistic management and supervision. If those who recruit, train and supervise police officers believe it is proper to make negative assumptions regarding citizens because of the color of their skin or where they live, those attitudes will be reflected in the way officers perform. There continues to be a problem of differential treatment of citizens of color in San Diego.

Finally, to ensure that appropriate and meaningful changes take place within the San Diego Police Department, community leaders should do a number of things: (1) encourage citizens to attend the meetings of the City Council’s Advisory Board on police matters; (2) hold that board accountable; (3) collectively call for the discipline and/or dismissal of any police officer who is found to have repeatedly used excessive force; (4) provide opportunities to educate residents regarding their rights and responsibilities related to the reporting of any crimes, including police misconduct, that they witness; (5) support the central documentation of complaints against police officers by an independent organization such as the Black Federation, and (6) encourage citizens to report positive encounters with police so that exceptional courtesy, professionalism and assistance does not go unnoticed.

If the leaders in the black community will follow through with positive leadership, they will be supported by those of us who truly wish to see justice for all in a San Diego that is safe and peaceful.