San Diego

The retrial of Sagon Penn, accused of killing a police officer and wounding another officer and a civilian observer during a March 31, 1985, altercation in Encanto, was delayed for a day Wednesday because a juror was sick.

Superior Court Judge J. Morgan Lester dismissed the remaining jurors and ordered the proceedings postponed after learning that Juror Sarah Schiff, a mother of two who works for San Diego Gas & Electric, was ill.

Lester decided that a one-day delay was preferable to calling one of the four alternates in the case because “it’s very early in the trial” and it appeared that “the illness may be brief.” Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Carpenter and defense attorney Milton Silverman agreed to the delay. Schiff, who reportedly had a sore throat, is expected back today.

Penn was found innocent in June of murder and other major charges in the death of Police Agent Thomas Riggs and the wounding of Police Agent Donovan Jacobs and Sarah Pina-Ruiz, an observer riding in Riggs’ patrol car. He is now facing five charges on which the first jury deadlocked.