Guards: Killer fought often

In the third day of testimony in the penalty phase of Billy Joe Johnson’s murder trial, prosecutors Thursday piled on the stories about his penchant for violence.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Johnson, 46, a Costa Mesa native and white supremacist who was convicted last week of helping kill fellow skinhead gang member Scott Miller in 2002.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ebrahim Baytieh called nine witnesses Thursday morning, most of whom were prison guards who watched over Johnson.

Two days after Baytieh established in court that Johnson likely was an accomplice in a 1991 prison murder of a child molester, the county prosecutor built up a virtual laundry list of Johnson’s fights in prison since then.

Correctional Officer Andrew Gomez testified that in 1992, he heard a scuffle in Johnson’s cell at Corcoran State Prison. When he went to investigate, he found Johnson’s cell mate on the floor bloodied, he testified. He added that Johnson said he beat the guy up after the man took a swing at him.

Later that year, Johnson apparently got into a fight with another prisoner, according to another guard’s testimony Thursday. John Schuman testified he had to shoot a wooden block — one of the nonlethal weapons prison guards have in their arsenal — at Johnson to get him to stop pummeling a fellow inmate.

Garden Grove police Officer Tom Dare testified that in 1994, he got into a brief, high-speed pursuit with a then-freed Johnson in a residential neighborhood. Although the man he was chasing got away, Dare said he knew it was Johnson because he left his wallet in the car when he fled.

Another guard testified Thursday that Johnson attacked a prisoner when he was back in prison in 1995. Correctional Officer Randall Priest testified that in 1996, he too had to stop Johnson from beating another inmate. He had to use rubber bullets, he told the jury.

Johnson’s defense attorney, Michael Molfetta, established that in each instance, guards did not see who or what started the fights. He ventured the possibility that Johnson is just good at defending himself.

Baytieh’s witnesses painted a portrait of Johnson as a habitually violent skinhead who can also call the shots in his gang. Correctional Officer Richard Nava testified that in 2003 he saw for himself Johnson’s pull with the white supremacists in the prison.

Nava testified that he saw Johnson shout to the “wood pile,” or the white prisoners, then specifically to his “comrades,” or active members of his gang, ordering them not to cooperate with guards’ investigation into a killing there a day earlier. Johnson was not involved in the killing.

The conclusion to Baytieh’s case that Johnson should get the death penalty comes Monday, when he said he’ll cover Johnson’s conviction for murdering a man in Huntington Beach in 2004.

Molfetta said he may begin arguing his case Monday or Tuesday and expects Johnson to testify in his own defense.