$1,000 settlement reached in claim against Las Vegas police

The Metropolitan Police Department paid $1,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by a man who claimed a prejudicial photo lineup caused witnesses to identify him as a robber.

Joshua Donizetti filed the federal lawsuit in December 2009, and it was dismissed in October after the parties reached the settlement.

At the time, lawyers involved in the case would not divulge the amount of the settlement. On Thursday, Martina Geinzer, litigation manager for the Police Department, revealed the amount.

Donizetti claimed a prejudicial photo lineup caused witnesses to identify him as the man who had robbed them at gunpoint in May 2007. Because of the identifications, Donizetti spent 3½ months in the county jail.

He claimed the photo lineup was prejudicial because it contained five other men who looked nothing like him.

According to a warrant for Donizetti's arrest, four people were robbed of more than $1,500 at an apartment on Karen Avenue, near Lamb Boulevard.

Police said they conducted a second photo lineup after they received information that Donizetti might not be the robber. That time, only two witnesses identified Donizetti.

The district attorney's office dropped all charges against Donizetti in November 2007.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.