Death sentence upheld for Costa Mesa white supremacist in 2002 murder

The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the death sentence issued in 2009 for Billy Joe Johnson, a Costa Mesa native and white supremacist who was convicted of murdering another gang member in 2002.

A jury found Johnson guilty of luring fellow skinhead Scott Miller from a party in Costa Mesa to an Anaheim alley, where he was shot to death.

The white supremacist gang Public Enemy Number One had put out a hit on Miller after he spoke to the media about the gang, which he helped form, according to court documents.

During Johnson’s trial, he admitted to his part in killing Miller. He also claimed responsibility for at least four other slayings.

Johnson’s attorney at the time said Johnson hoped he would be sent to death row, where he would have a bigger cell, television privileges and other perks he wouldn’t have at the prisons where he would serve the alternative sentence of life without parole.

The Supreme Court rejected appellate attorneys’ arguments that the death sentence was improper.

Among other arguments, lawyers for Johnson said Orange County prosecutors shouldn’t have been allowed to introduce evidence about Johnson’s lesser crimes when they presented their case for the death penalty.

They also claimed the prosecutor committed misconduct by speaking directly to individual jurors instead of the body as a whole.

According to court documents, the prosecutor asked each juror during closing arguments if the crime made him or her “indignant.”

The court threw out the claim that this crossed a line, noting that Johnson’s attorney at the trial never objected to the tactic.