High court hears Mortensen appeal

A Nevada Supreme Court panel has been asked to overturn the murder conviction of former Metro Police Officer Ron Mortensen, but a prosecutor argued Tuesday there is no fresh evidence that would lead a new jury to reach a different conclusion.

The appeal, heard by a panel of the state Supreme Court meeting in Las Vegas, was based in part on recently revealed statements attributed to Mortensen's buddy, former Metro Officer Christopher Brady, that Brady wanted to commit drive-by shootings.

Defense attorney Frank Cremen argued Tuesday that the statements made during drinking sessions at a bar frequented by police officers would have supported Mortensen's contention that Brady was the actual gunman.

Mortensen, 32, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the drive-by shooting death of 21-year-old Daniel Mendoza on Dec. 28, 1996, as Mendoza was standing with several friends outside an apartment near Paradise Road and Twain Avenue.

Deputy District Attorney Bill Koot said the information about Brady only indicates "there were two rogue cops going out after a night of drinking into a gang-type neighborhood and doing a drive-by."

"The issue is not whether there were two rogue cops, but which of the two did the shooting," Koot argued in asking the high court to reject the appeal.

Koot recounted that five eyewitnesses testified the passenger was the shooter, and "it is uncontroverted that Mortensen was the passenger."

Mortensen testified at his trial, however, that Brady was the actual gunman, who leaned across the truck cab and fired out the passenger window with Mortensen's .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

For the conviction to be overturned, the Supreme Court would have to conclude that not only is there new evidence in the case, but that the evidence would change the outcome of the trial.

The high court panel consisting of Justices Bill Maupin, Nancy Becker and Deborah Agosti took the matter under advisement, and a written decision is expected in several weeks.

The information about Brady's statements advocating drive-by shootings came from another Metro officer, Marc Barry, during testimony before a federal grand jury probing the slaying.

But Barry said in his statement that Brady clearly was joking in suggesting drive-by shootings, as other officers were when they advocated dropping napalm bombs on certain neighborhoods.

Koot quoted Barry as saying such statements made a year before Mendoza's murder were mere "venting."

Although Brady was the admitted driver of the truck during the incident celebrating Mortensen's 30th birthday, he was not charged criminally because he came forward two days later to solve the case.

Cremen on Tuesday also argued that a third gun -- larger than Mortensen's pistol or Brady's .38-caliber revolver -- was responsible for Mendoza's death.

Cremen complained that he didn't have access before the trial to notes from a Metro firearms expert who expressed concern that the fatal bullet wound was larger than the purported murder weapon could have made.

The notes from Torrey Johnson also indicated curiosity that the fatal bullet passed through Mendoza's body although he generally didn't consider .380 ammunition to be that powerful.

The bullet that killed Mendoza was never recovered, despite a police search.

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