Pair go on trial in attempted killing of inmate

Kim Smith

Wednesday, July 18, 2001 | 10:13 a.m.

A death-row inmate who killed four people and another inmate serving life for armed casino robberies are on trial on charges of attempted murder relating to a jail incident in which an inmate was thrown from a second-floor balcony.

Jury selection began Tuesday in this latest trial for killer Donte Johnson and casino robber Reginald Johnson. The two, who are not related, are accused of tossing Oscar Irias, 31, off a second-floor balcony in February while the three were housed at the Clark County Detention Center.

The trial was expected to begin today and the father of one of Donte Johnson's murder victims is vowing not to miss a moment of it. The suspects are under increased security.

According to jail officials, the Johnsons threw Irias over a 5-foot railing to the floor about 12 feet below.

Irias was treated at University Medical Center for arm injuries. He was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison in May after pleading guilty to lewdness with a minor under 14.

Although both Johnsons are already destined to spend the rest of their lives in prison, convictions in the current case could keep them behind bars should their other convictions be overturned.

Additional correctional officers were present in the courtroom Tuesday and both defendants wore security stun belts that allow officers to shock them with small amounts of electricity if they misbehave.

At the time of the incident, Donte Johnson, 23, was awaiting trial in another attempted-murder case and Reginald Johnson, 27, was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to robbing or trying to rob the Treasure Island hotel-casino three times.

Donte Johnson was sentenced to death last year in connection with an August 1998 quadruple murder.

Donte Johnson, Sikia Smith and Terrell Young went to a home with the intention of stealing $10,000 and drugs. They left with $240, a pager, Sony Play Station and a VCR after Johnson pumped one bullet each into the heads of four young men.

Smith and Young are serving life sentences with no chance of parole after being convicted by separate juries last year.

David Mowen, father of one of the young men killed by Johnson, didn't miss a minute of those trials and he vowed not to miss a minute of the current trial.

Mowen said he wants to ensure justice is served in each of Donte Johnson's cases.

Ironically, one of Donte Johnson's former co-defendants may have been the last inmate stunned by correctional officers in the courtroom.

Young was fitted with the stun belt during his murder trial after he began acting up during jury selection. He was shocked in front of the jury after he scattered papers, overturned the prosecution's table and spit on his own lawyers.

Reginald Johnson has a history of courtroom outbursts. While awaiting trial in the robbery case, he threatened to kill Deputy District Attorney Phil Brown and he disrupted the proceedings during his sentencing in March.

In the minutes before Reginald Johnson was sentenced to 130 years, he made sexually explicit suggestions to a prosecutor, threw a court file across a desk and laughed while watching himself shoot a security guard on videotape.

Donte Johnson is also expected to go to trial next month for allegedly rendering Derrick Simpson, 41, a quadraplegic in a May 1998 shooting.