Opinion ID: 3171240
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The murder of Scott Miller

Text: On the evening of March 8, 2002, a little over one year after the news segments about PEN1, defendant‘s cousin hosted a party in Costa Mesa. Several members and associates of PEN1 attended the party, including Miller and defendant, who had recently transitioned to PEN1 after a falling out with the Nazi Low Riders, a White supremacist prison gang. Although defendant had known Miller for decades, he had not seen Miller since the news broadcasts had aired. According to the testimony of a mutual friend who also attended the party, Miller and defendant were laughing together and joked about Miller keeping ―his guard up.‖ Around 10:30 p.m. on the night of the party, Miller‘s now ex-girlfriend received a voicemail message from him. He sounded concerned. In the background she heard voices, one of which she recognized as defendant‘s. Another woman who previously had dated Miller saw him when she first arrived at the party at 10:00 p.m. But she left the party shortly thereafter to buy drugs and by the time she returned around 11:00 p.m., Miller was no longer there. 3 Earlier that day, PEN1 member Michael Lamb had called Christina Hughes at her Anaheim apartment. He was looking for Tanya Hinton, a PEN1 associate who was staying there. Hughes told Lamb that Hinton was not at the apartment. He responded, ―It is important, have her call me when she gets home.‖ Hughes gave Hinton the message when Hinton arrived at the apartment in the early evening, but told Hinton that she did not want any visitors coming to her place. Shortly before 11:30 p.m., however, Hughes walked downstairs from the upper level of the two-story apartment and saw Hinton with Lamb and PEN1 member Jacob Rump on the first floor. Both men had recently been released from prison. When Hughes demanded that they go, Hinton assured her the group was leaving, and Hughes went back upstairs. Minutes later, Hughes heard a single shot fired outside in the alley. A neighbor whose home faced the alley also heard a gunshot, followed by the sound of screeching tires. Sometime between 11:30 and 11:35 p.m., Hughes and a friend went to the alley to investigate. She saw the dead body of a man she did not recognize and a large amount of blood. Police responded to the scene about 20 to 25 minutes after the shooting, and found Miller‘s body facedown in the alley with blood coming from the head area. There was a bloody baseball cap and soda can underneath Miller‘s head, which suggested he had been surprised by the gunshot and dropped the items where he was shot. In the blood, police found tire impressions that were heading away from the location of the body. They also recovered a nine-millimeter Luger casing on the ground 15 feet from the body. An autopsy showed Miller had died from a single gunshot to the back of his head, which lacerated his cerebellum and cerebrum. According to the forensic pathologist, Miller probably lost consciousness immediately and death occurred within minutes. The absence of burning, singeing, stippling, or soot at the 4 entrance wound suggested the barrel of the gun was some distance from the skin, not in contact with it. The day after the shooting, defendant called Miller‘s former girlfriend, asking her if she had heard what happened. He told her that ―Scott is no longer with us‖ and something to the effect that if she needed anything, he would be there for her. That same day, defendant spoke with his friend and fellow gang member Donald McLachlan about his involvement in Miller‘s death. Defendant told McLachlan that he drove with Miller from the party in Costa Mesa to Anaheim, telling Miller they were going to get drugs. Defendant also indicated that he was walking next to Miller in the alley before he was killed. When Miller heard footsteps coming from behind, he asked defendant, ―Are those PEN1 guys?‖ He was then introduced to Lamb and Rump. According to defendant, Miller seemed resigned to the idea that something was going to happen to him. Defendant identified Lamb as the shooter. He also told McLachlan that he was angry and upset about the way the killing was handled and had confronted Lamb about it. Describing Miller as a ―dear friend,‖ defendant thought Miller should have been executed by a shot to the face, not to the back of the head. As defendant envisioned the scenario, Miller should have been told to his face, ―You had a good run, you ran afoul of the rules, it is time to go.‖ Defendant explained that Miller had to be killed because of the news interview and ―his actions . . . in the neighborhood.‖