Jacobs Often Used Racial Slurs on Duty, Witness Says

The defense rested its case in the retrial of Sagon Penn on Wednesday after jolting prosecutors with a final witness--a black former police officer who testified that Police Agent Donovan Jacobs once called him a “nigger” and frequently used racial slurs while making arrests.

Bolstering defense contentions that Jacobs is a racist who instigated a March, 1985, encounter with Penn that left Jacobs wounded and another officer dead, Nathaniel Jordan testified that Jacobs routinely used terms like “nigger” and “boy” while dealing with black prisoners.

Jordan, who worked with Jacobs on the San Diego Police Department’s street narcotics enforcement detail in 1982 and 1983, also said the Jacobs’ “aggressive and overzealous” behavior on the job often caused dangerous situations to escalate to a point where they required intervention by fellow officers.

Later Wednesday, Superior Court Judge J. Morgan Lester imposed a gag order on attorneys in the 11-week-old trial, prohibiting them from discussing any aspect of the controversial case with the media until a verdict is handed down.

Second Unexpected Witness

Lester said he decided to issue his order after reading a printed comment by Deputy Dist. Atty. Wayne Mayer, who on Tuesday told reporters that he felt testimony from a defense witness was not “that significant.”

The judge said he felt barring attorneys from granting interviews was “the only effective order I can make” to shelter the retrial jury from comments that might bias their judgment in the case.

Jordan, who said he joined the Police Department in 1979 and took medical retirement in December, 1986, after he was hit by a drunk driver, was the second unexpected witness presented by defense attorney Milton Silverman in as many days.

On Tuesday, Billy Irving Anderson, another black former police officer who was employed by the department for eight years, said Jacobs threatened him in 1985 after Anderson criticized the officer’s conduct.

Anderson, who now works as an officer with the San Diego Community Colleges police force, said he saw Jacobs call a black youth “boy” and slam him over the roof of his squad car for no apparent reason. The veteran officer said he yelled out in protest to Jacobs, who in turn said, “Get your black ass over here or you’ll find yourself over the roof of this car.”

Under cross-examination by Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Carpenter on Wednesday, Jordan said Jacobs once called him a “nigger” after he confronted the officer about his handling of a situation in the field.

Asked whether he had “come to blows” with Jacobs after the remark was made, Jordan said he “wanted to” but was restrained by his supervisor, Sgt. James Duncan, after shoving a table toward Jacobs.

Jordan, who now works as a security officer for Rohr Industries and is an associate minister at Mount Zion Baptist Church, also testified that Jacobs often called black suspects racial names. Jordan said he objected to such conduct.

Carpenter asked Jordan to explain the context in which such remarks were made.

“Well, he was very angry,” said Jordan, a stocky man with a mustache who was Silverman’s 42nd witness. “It seemed like it was a problem to arrest these people. He had often referred to people as “nigger,” “boy,” that sort of thing, and that’s what I went to the sergeant about. . . . We didn’t need those kinds of flare-ups. You know, it’s tough dealing with someone on PCP.”

Jordan said that other officers, too, felt Jacobs’ use of racial epithets was inappropriate and had complained about it on several occasions to Duncan or other superiors in the department.

In calling Jordan to testify Wednesday, Silverman concluded with a bang a nearly four-week defense of Penn that closely resembled the six-week case he put forth in Penn’s first trial a year ago.

As in the first trial, Silverman--known for his dramatic flair and sense of humor in the courtroom--has sought to make Jacobs, 30, the issue, arguing that the officer’s conduct triggered the Encanto confrontation in which Penn killed Police Agent Thomas Riggs and wounded Jacobs and civilian observer Sarah Pina-Ruiz.

According to the defense, Jacobs launched a brutal verbal and physical assault on Penn, forcing the 25-year-old San Diego man to fire out of fear for his life. Several eyewitnesses have testified that Jacobs told Penn, “You think you’re bad, nigger? I’m going to beat your bad ass” during the deadly confrontation that followed a traffic stop.

If anything, Silverman’s argument was enhanced in this trial, particularly by a transcript of a Police Academy counseling session Jacobs underwent while a recruit in 1978.

In the 11-page transcript, which surfaced mysteriously after Penn’s first trial, Jacobs was upbraided by his supervisors for demonstrating a willingness to use racial slurs and profanity in police work if it “gets the job done.”

Silverman maintains the counseling session was a “chilling prophecy” foretelling the officer’s encounter with Penn seven years later. Silverman has used the transcript liberally during the retrial.

Penn was acquitted last June of murder and several other major charges. He is being retried on charges on which the first jury deadlocked, including voluntary manslaughter in Riggs’ death; attempted murder in the wounding of Pina-Ruiz, who was a passenger in Riggs’ patrol car, and attempted voluntary manslaughter in the wounding of Jacobs.

Today, the prosecution will continue its presentation of rebuttal witnesses.