Retrial in Shooting of Two San Diego Officers Expected
The state Supreme Court’s refusal to review the Sagon Penn case virtually assures a retrial on charges stemming from the shootings of two police officers, the San Diego County district attorney’s office said Wednesday.
Penn, 24, was acquitted in June of the most serious charges in the March 31, 1985, slaying of San Diego Police Officer Thomas Riggs and the woundings of Officer Donovan Jacobs and civilian observer Sarah Pina-Ruiz. His attorney, Milton Silverman, asked the high court to either dismiss the remaining charges or grant a hearing.
An appellate court refused to dismiss the remaining charges, and the high court, with Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird dissenting, voted 6 to 1 to deny the defense request for a hearing.
Penn still faces charges of manslaughter in the death of Riggs, attempted manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon in the wounding of Jacobs and attempted murder in the shooting of Pina-Ruiz.
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