San Diego

Over the objections of the defense, a Superior Court judge Thursday allowed prosecutors to add three counts of assault with a deadly weapon to the charges against suspected police killer Sagon Penn.

Judge J. Morgan Lester said his ruling simply was a “housecleaning” measure aimed at clearing up confusion stemming from a legal error made in Penn’s first trial last year. Because of the mistake, jurors were allowed to consider the assault charges in the first trial, even though technically Penn was not charged with assault.

Defense attorney Milton Silverman said he was considering asking an appellate court to review the ruling.

Penn was found innocent last year of charges that he murdered San Diego Police Agent Thomas Riggs and attempted to murder Police Agent Donovan Jacobs.

He is being retried on charges on which the first jury deadlocked, heavily in favor of acquittal: voluntary manslaughter in Riggs’ death, attempted murder in the shooting of civilian ride-along Sara Pina-Ruiz, and attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon in the wounding of Jacobs.