Court rejects Las Vegas robbery convict’s claim of improper ID

By Cy Ryan

Thursday, July 30, 2015 | 10:02 p.m.

The Nevada Court of Appeals has ruled police in Las Vegas acted properly when they allowed two victims of a robbery to identify the suspect who was handcuffed in front of a police car and with a spotlight shining on him.

Tabuta Johnson maintained his constitutional rights of due process were violated when he was identified in this fashion 30 minutes after the robbery in 2013.

The victims told police they were hit from behind, knocked to the ground and their purse and wallet were stolen. They described the robbers to police, who arrested Johnson and his brother Varian Humas about 30 minutes after the crime.

The victims were driven to the site of the arrest, and each viewed the brothers separately. They identified the suspects.

Johnson said this identification was suggestive and violated his constitutional rights. He argued this identification should have not been allowed into evidence. The victims also identified him in court as the man who robbed them.

Judge Jerome Tao, who wrote the unanimous decision, said given the circumstances, the pretrial show-up identification and the in-court identification were reliable and not mistaken.

Johnson received a sentence of 20 to 50 years. His brother pleaded to a lesser charge.