Judge Voids Partial Verdict in San Diego Murder Trial

A Superior Court judge canceled a partial verdict in the Sagon Penn murder trial Tuesday, after a juror expressed second thoughts about whether Penn was guilty of assault with a deadly weapon when he drove a car over a San Diego police officer.

After a one-week recess, the jury resumed deliberations Tuesday on six charges filed against Penn, including murder, in the March 31, 1985, shooting death of Police Officers Thomas Riggs and attempted murder in the shootings of Officer Donovan Jacobs and Sarah Pina-Ruiz, a civilian ride-along in Riggs’ patrol car.

The recess was called May 20, when juror Vernell Hardy was hospitalized to deliver a baby. At the time, the jury reported it had reached a verdict on only one of the counts against Penn.

The defendant, 24, who is black, claims that he acted in self-defense after the officers beat him with batons and Jacobs shouted racial slurs while pinning him to the ground.

The jury convicted Penn of assault with a deadly weapon and concluded that he inflicted “great bodily injury” when he ran over Jacobs with his police vehicle. The conviction carries a prison term of five to seven years.

Rejected Charges

By finding Penn guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, the jurors rejected the charges of attempted murder and attempted voluntary manslaughter, both of which required a finding that Penn intended to kill Jacobs with the car.

The jury’s partial verdict was unsealed on May 20, when Hardy was hospitalized. After the 11 other jurors confirmed the guilty verdict, Superior Court Judge Ben W. Hamrick sent them home until Hardy could rejoin deliberations.

Hamrick, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Carpenter, Penn and defense attorney Milton Silverman visited the maternity ward at Kaiser Hospital last Wednesday to affirm that Hardy agreed that Penn was guilty of the assault charge.

During the hospital visit, however, Hardy indicated that she had some reservations. Hardy said that because Hamrick earlier had instructed the jury to return all verdicts at the same time, she and other jurors wanted to further discuss the assault verdict, along with the other charges.

Hamrick ordered the jury on Tuesday to reconsider its lone verdict. The judge also said he would let stand the jury’s finding that Penn was not guilty of attempted murder and the lesser charge of attempted voluntary manslaughter.

“In effect, there is no guilty verdict,” Silverman said.

Other Choice

Thus, the worst possible verdict for the defense on the attempted murder charge would be guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. The only other choice facing the jury is that Penn was not guilty of assault when he ran over Jacobs.

Penn reportedly shot Jacobs once in the neck, shot Riggs three times and then stood and fired twice at Pina-Ruiz through the driver’s side window of Riggs’ patrol car. Riggs was killed with the third shot, Jacobs was paralyzed in the arm and Pina-Ruiz was grazed in the side and arm.

Penn allegedly jumped into Jacobs’ patrol car and drove over the officer as he lay wounded.

Penn also faces two counts of theft in the reported taking of Jacobs’ patrol car and Riggs’ service revolver as he fled the scene.