Penn Charged With Misdemeanor in Attack

Sagon Penn was charged Friday with misdemeanor battery after the district attorney’s office decided that the assault of which he is accused--on his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend--does not constitute a felony.

The 27-year-old Penn, twice acquitted in the racially charged shooting of two San Diego police officers and a civilian ride-along, had been booked on suspicion of a more serious charge--attempted murder.

But the district attorney’s office determined that his alleged choking of Roger Worshim was not a felony offense because it did not involve a deadly weapon or cause serious bodily injury.

Penn allegedly grabbed, choked and chased Worshim Wednesday morning at the Normal Heights apartment of Donna Parks. She is the mother of Penn’s 18-month-old daughter, Britton, and has been the target of several violent incidents involving Penn over the last year.

In a brief court appearance, Penn was ordered held on $10,000 bail on misdemeanor battery charge and a second charge of misdemeanor vandalism.

Dressed in jailhouse blues and with his hair tied in a short braid in the back, Penn stood before Municipal Judge Lillian Lim Quon and entered a plea of not guilty to the new charges. He then interrupted the judge to make a short statement:

“Donna is the only woman that ever loved me, and I love her more than anything in the world. And I just want her and my little girl to know that. I don’t believe in our family, uh, I love Donna and Britton and that’s it.”

But the judge sharply admonished Penn not to have any physical, telephone or letter-writing contact with Parks or Worshim, either while in jail or if he makes bail. Penn’s grandfather, Yusuf Abdullah, who attended the Friday court hearing, said afterward that he will not help his grandson raise the bail money.

“At least not right away, because he might go back over there” to Parks’ apartment, Abdullah said. “He needs to get some help. He needs psychiatric help.”

Police said they had booked Penn on the more serious charge of attempted murder because he had tried to strangle Worshim with both hands, had left finger marks on his throat and had yelled that he was going to kill him.

But Patty O’Mara, senior deputy district attorney for issuing criminal complaints, said she interviewed Worshim and Parks and decided on the less severe misdemeanor charges.

“You need pretty bad conduct to make it a felony,” she said.

“If I was lying on the floor with someone on top of me choking me, I’d think I was going to die. But the California Penal Code says that merely using unlawful force is a misdemeanor battery, unless there’s a deadly weapon or the amount of force used is likely to cause severe bodily injury.

“If the attack had gone further, it would have perhaps been felony conduct, but it stopped before the violence escalated to the felony level.”

She noted that the alleged assault ended when Worshim broke free of Penn and ran away.

O’Mara, asked if the arresting officers were overzealous in booking Penn on suspicion of attempted murder, praised the conduct of the police.

“In view of one of their brother officers having died at his hands, I’m sure it caused them additional concern,” she said.

Donald James, a deputy city attorney who is prosecuting the case, said it was important that Penn stay away from Parks and Worshim. Just two weeks ago, Penn was alleged to have kicked down Parks’ front door, and last year he is alleged to have struck her in the face. No charges were filed in either incident.

“We’re concerned about Sagon Penn,” James said. “We’re concerned about anybody who’s been arrested for battery.”

If convicted of the two misdemeanors, Penn could face a maximum punishment of six months in the County Jail and a $1,000 fine.

Penn was twice acquitted for killing police Agent Thomas Riggs and for wounding Agent Donovan Jacobs and the ride-along, Sara Pina-Ruiz. Penn’s attorney persuaded both juries that Penn had been the target of a racist attack and committed the shootings in self-defense.

His relationship with Parks began when she started writing Penn while he was in jail awaiting the first murder trial.