Inmate requests death sentence for better amenities
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANTA ANA, Calif. - A white supremacist gang member convicted of murder has told the Southern California jury deciding his penalty that he wants capital punishment because prison amenities are better on Death Row.
Billy Joe Johnson is already serving a 45-year sentence for a different killing and is locked down most of the day.
He testified Tuesday in Orange County that he's heard Death Row isn't so bad, especially compared with his current living conditions.
His attorney says the 46-year-old figures that by the time his death sentence appeals run out, he'll be 65 or 70 years old and won't want to live longer anyway.
To try to convince the jury that he deserves death, Johnson testified he's killed two other people and never been caught.
As I may have mentioned before I'm an anti death penalty guy. Not because I respect life or anything. Its just because the legal system is flawed and sometimes innocent people get put to death. But in cases where its absolutely certain a murderer is guilty I say we should bring back public hangings. And I think this guy is the perfect candidate to start with. I'd commute his senetence to death, let him live a day in Death Row and then tell him his execution day got moved up. Then I'd laugh my ass off right in his face. Hopefully he gets raped real soon.
Texas has already exonerated 40 individuals just by DNA testing. Exoneree Patrick Waller came to Wesleyan one day and talked about being wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and spending 16 years in prison.
ReplyDeleteYeah I watched a great 20/20 one night where a guy got wrongfully convincted for rape from a bad eyewitness identification. Now he and the lady that fingered him travel the country speaking about the problems with witness identification.
ReplyDeleteThe funny part was that people often ask them how they met. The guy says, "Ask her!"