San Diego

The defense attorney for Sagon Penn continued to hammer away Monday at Police Agent Donovan Jacobs, attempting to point out inconsistencies in Jacobs’ various accounts of the March 31, 1985, shootings that left a police officer dead and Jacobs and a civilian wounded.

Attorney Milton Silverman, cross-examining Jacobs for a fourth day in Penn’s retrial, relentlessly questioned the police officer about his memory of the events and discrepancies in his descriptions given to detectives investigating the shootings and to jurors in Penn’s first trial.

The line of questioning is central to Silverman’s efforts to raise doubts about Jacobs’ character. Silverman argues that Jacobs bears the blame for the fatal encounter because he launched a brutal attack on Penn, wielding fists and police baton, and using racial slurs, after Penn declined to remove his driver’s license from his wallet during a traffic stop in Encanto.

Jacobs’ conduct, Silverman argues, prompted Penn to grab the officer’s revolver and shoot Jacobs, Police Agent Thomas Riggs, who was killed, and Sarah Pina-Ruiz, an observer in Riggs’ patrol car.

On Monday, Silverman asked Jacobs why his memories of some events on the day of the shootings are clear while others are hazy. Jacobs cited his injuries--his left arm remains partly paralyzed--and said, “My whole memory is really cloudy.”

Silverman also queried Jacobs about his insistence that Riggs first traded blows with Penn. Numerous witnesses have disputed that scenario, saying Jacobs pursued Penn and was the first to strike him. Silverman asked Jacobs whether, if he had started the fight and was “unjustified in doing so,” it would be “a convenient lie” to blame the scuffle on Riggs.

“No,” Jacobs replied. “If I had done something wrong, I would take responsibility for it.”

Penn was acquitted in June of murder and some other major charges. He is being retried on five charges, ranging from assault to attempted murder, on which the first jury deadlocked.

Jacobs’ mother, Mary, attended the trial Monday. She declined to comment on the proceedings.