Penn Case Probe Focuses on Actions by Police : Brother of Slain Officer Blames Jacobs for Triggering Deadly Confrontation

The state attorney general’s office is investigating reports that San Diego Police Agent Donovan Jacobs used excessive force on March 31, 1985, when he initiated a violent confrontation with Sagon Penn, The Times has learned.

Statements by numerous witnesses that Jacobs beat the 25-year-old black man repeatedly with his fists and a night stick and shouted racial epithets are being reviewed as part of the attorney general’s ongoing probe into alleged officer misconduct in Penn’s police murder trial, two sources close to the investigation said.

At the same time that Jacobs’ conduct has come under official scrutiny, his actions during the altercation with Penn have been criticized for the first time by a member of slain Agent Thomas Riggs’ family. Michael Riggs, the younger brother of Thomas Riggs, said in a recent interview that he believes that Jacobs is a bigot whose actions caused Penn to fatally shoot his brother and seriously wound civilian ride-along Sarah Pina-Ruiz.

“My personal opinion is (Jacobs) killed him, not Penn,” Riggs said. “I would like to see him drummed off the face of the department.”

Assigned to Desk Job

Jacobs, who currently is assigned to a desk job in the police narcotics unit, declined to speak with a reporter. He has not granted any interviews since Penn was acquitted in his second trial in July. Jurors said they believed defense arguments that Penn was the victim of a racist and brutal attack by Jacobs and reacted in self-defense by killing Riggs and wounding Jacobs and Pina-Ruiz.

Jacobs has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the case, and his conduct has been supported by San Diego County Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller and Police Chief Bill Kolender. Both officials have said they found no inappropriate conduct by officers in the Penn case.

If the attorney general’s investigation concludes that Jacobs used excessive force, it is “highly unlikely” that he would face criminal charges, a state Justice Department official said. Instead, Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp likely would urge that Kolender take administrative action against Jacobs.

“More often we would just communicate (the findings) directly to the police chief, tell him it is a cause of concern to us, and ask what is he going to do,” the official said.

Taken by Surprise

The attorney general’s decision to review Jacobs’ conduct took police administrators by surprise. (Kolender is on vacation this week and could not be reached for comment.)

“This is outside the scope of what we asked the attorney general to do,” Assistant Police Chief Bob Burgreen said. “But I have no problem with them doing it if, in their investigation, they feel it needs to be done to clear this matter up. We will cooperate fully with their investigation and we will certainly be interested in their findings and recommendations, whatever they may be.”

Van de Kamp was asked by Miller and Kolender to investigate police conduct in the Penn case in July after Superior Court Judge J. Morgan Lester criticized the Police Department in an interview with The Times. Lester expressed outrage at attempts by police to conceal and cover up evidence to protect fellow officers. He accused police of lying on the witness stand, altering evidence and trying “to get Penn at all cost.”

The attorney general’s office has assigned three special agents full-time to investigate Lester’s allegations. Among those who have been interviewed so far are Lester, defense attorney Milton J. Silverman and prosecutor Michael Carpenter, sources said.

One source said that investigators are troubled by evidence that police homicide investigators ordered a photo-processing clerk to darken photographs of the setting sun’s reflection on the police car in which Pina-Ruiz was shot. The defense alleged that this was done to contradict defense arguments that Penn could not see that Pina-Ruiz was a civilian because of glare in the car window.

The attorney general’s probe was expected to focus on Lester’s charges that police concealed and covered up evidence, but investigators decided to review the actions the officers took against Penn on the night of March 31, 1985, sources said.

In the interview with The Times, Lester said it was evident to him that Jacobs and Riggs used excessive force on Penn when “nothing is going to happen except caving someone’s head in.” The judge said he was bothered that Jacobs continued to assault Penn after he had pinned him to the ground.

“There’s too many witnesses, who didn’t even know Mr. Penn, talking about the beating taking place on the ground for the department to ignore the reality of what was going on . . . “ Lester said. “It’s obvious to me that . . . when Mr. Penn was down on the ground, he had stopped any scuffling or fighting with the officers. I think one lesson to be learned is that this is no time for night-stick justice, particularly when (Penn) is on the ground saying, ‘I give up, you’ve got me now.’ ”

Probe Called Overdue

An independent investigation into the facts of the Penn case and the actions of the officers is long overdue, said Silverman, Penn’s defense attorney. But Silverman said the results of the probe will not change the verdict.

“To me, the attorney general’s investigation isn’t the main thing,” Silverman said. “The main thing has already happened. The verdict is already in. The people have already spoken. There are those who might want to plug their ears and close their eyes and shut their mouths, but there still is sound, there still is light and there still is truth.”

Since the night Thomas Riggs was killed nearly 2 1/2 years ago, Donovan Jacobs has received unyielding support from the Riggs family and friends in the law enforcement fraternity.

That was before Michael Riggs decided to voice his criticisms.

Works as Analyst

Riggs, 25, who works as a field analyst in the chemical waste disposal industry, said he is the only male in the Riggs family who did not pursue a career in law enforcement. His father, Charles Riggs, retired from the San Diego police as a sergeant in 1982, three years after his brother joined the force. His brother-in-law, San Diego Police Officer Timothy Ruopp, was shot and killed while on duty in 1984 in Balboa Park.

In the Penn case, Riggs noted the many contradictions given by eyewitnesses and said it is difficult to know what went on during the altercation between Penn and the officers. But Michael Riggs said he believes Jacobs provoked Penn into shooting Jacobs the first time in the throat and shooting his brother three times. He also said that Penn should have been convicted for shooting Pina-Ruiz and driving over Jacobs with a squad car.

“I’m not happy with the outcome of the trial, but it is our judicial system,” Riggs said. “And it’s why my father retired early. You get to the point that you can’t win.”

Riggs said he began to suspect that Jacobs may not have conducted himself appropriately when the officer criticized Tom Riggs from his hospital bed for initiating the encounter with Penn. All of the eyewitnesses who testified at the trial contradicted Jacobs’ account. They said that Jacobs was the one who approached Penn in a rude manner and began fighting with him.

“The first thing he did was blame my brother,” Riggs said. “It was the first thing that came out of his mouth. But they couldn’t get any of the witnesses to back that up.”

Since then, Riggs said, he has become aware of Jacobs’ reputation in police circles as an overly aggressive officer whose actions frequently put himself and his fellow officers in danger. He said he found it difficult to believe that other officers on the department were unaware of such complaints.

“They must have all the scuttlebutt on him,” Riggs said. “I know that my brother didn’t speak very highly of him. He was not thrilled about the fact that they were going to have to work together . . . because of the areas they were working in and his attitude.”